Paterson police bust street gang's drug operation and make 22 arrests - NorthJersey.com

PATERSON – City police say they apprehended five members of the Sex Money Murda set of the Bloods street gang on Monday, busting a drug ring that operated near the corner of 12th Avenue and East 22nd Street.

In a probe that began two weeks ago, detectives said they confiscated more than $14,000 worth of heroin and other narcotics and arrested 17 alleged drug buyers, most of them from various suburbs in northern New Jersey.

"They sold during the day and they sold in the evenings,'' Capt. Troy Oswald, head of the Paterson police department's narcotics unit. "It was a round-the-clock thing.''

Working with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and Passaic County Prosecutor's Office, city detectives started nabbing alleged buyers last week and descended on the suspected dealers Monday, arresting one of them at his home on Irving Place in Woodland Park and the others either on the street in Paterson or at two apartments near the corner where the drugs were sold.

Woodland Park resident Ricardo Richards allegedly had the largest quantity of drugs in the bust. The 24-year-old has been charged with possession of 690 glassine packages of heroin, 32 baggies of crack and 79 grams of marijuana, according to Oswald. He also was charged with selling 30 glassines of heroin and five baggies of crack and intent to distribute drugs within 1,000 feet of a school. Police confiscated $1,445 from him as drug proceeds.

Twyshon Depew, 19, of Elmwood Park, was charged with possession of 481 packets of heroin and three baggies of crack. He also was accused of selling 19 glassine packets of heroin and possession with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school. Police confiscated $521 from him.

Authorities charged both Richards and Depew with possession of a handgun and other weapons offenses.

The other three men arrested on charges of selling drugs were 21-year-old Kenron Boyd of Englewood, 20-year-old Ahmier Booker of Paterson and 26-year-old Jameek Graves of Paterson.

The alleged drug buyers arrested in the bust were:

• Tolga Gezer, 19, and John Walsh Jr., both of Lake Hiawatha. They were charged with possession of 26 glassines of heroin and two baggies of crack
• Jerry Eagan, 27, of North Caldwell, who was charged with possession of 10 glassines of heroin.
• Christopher S. Laray, 21, of Paterson, who was charged with possession of two baggies of marijuana.
• Breilyn Rodriguez, 20, of Paterson, who was charged with possession of one baggie of marijuana.
• Johnathan Tinari, 32, of Hohokus, who was charged with possession of three glassines of heroin and endangering the welfare of a child.
• Michele Cianci, 36, of Maywood, who was charged with possession of 1 baggie of crack.
• Cythia McDowell, 37, of Hackensack, who was charged with possession of one glassine of heroin.
• Mary-Kate May, 19, of Little Falls, who was charged with possession of eight glassines of heroin.
• Heather Byron, 29, of Little Falls, who was charged with possession of eight glassines of heroin
• Jared Anderson, 24, of Danburry, CT, who was charged with possession of 10 glassines of heroin.
• Antonio Pagano, 27, of Lodi, who was charged with possession of 30 glassines of heroin.
• Javier Rodriguez, 28, of Paterson, who was charged with possession of seven glassines of heroin and one baggie of crack.
• Lauren Kaplan, 18, of Hillsdale, who was charged with possession of 19 glassines of heroin and one baggie of crack.
• Rosemary Meckler, 19, of Hillsdale, who was charged with possession of 19 glassines of heroin and one baggie of crack.
• Peter Albanese, 25, of  Washington Twp., who was charged with possession of 19 glassines of heroin and one baggie of crack.
• Kenneth Calamusa, 51, of Hawthorne, who was charged with possession of 30 glassines of heroin and five baggies of crack.