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BELLEVILLE — An Essex County SWAT team broke through the back door of a booby-trapped home in Belleville in raids on what authorities allege was a major heroin ring operating from Elizabeth to South Carolina.
In simultaneous raids about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, five men were arrested in Belleville, while in Perth Amboy a 29-year-old woman was arrested with $39,000 in cash, said Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow.
A seventh suspect, the alleged leader of the organization, Wendell Wilson, 40, who lived with the woman, was caught while driving in Elizabeth, Romankow said.
As the SWAT team approached the house, suspects tossed heroin into the toilet and glassine envelopes out broken windows, the prosecutor said.
Also, Jameel Perrin, 30, of Belleville, allegedly turned on the gas stove in what authorities believe was an attempt to spark an explosion when a concussion grenade was thrown in. Perrin was charged with maintaining a booby trap, Romankow said, in addition to maintaining a production facility and drug possession.
The two-month joint investigation by the prosecutor’s office, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and Elizabeth police focused on Wilson, he said. Wilson was charged with being a leader of a narcotics trafficking network, drug possession and distribution, and maintaining a production facility, said Romankow.
The bail for Wilson, said to be a high-ranking member of a set of the Bloods street gang, was set at $3,000,000.
Nearly $65,000 in heroin was confiscated, the prosecutor said, but more importantly Wilson was arrested. "The amount we seized is not the most important part, it’s the player," said Romankow.
The operation was described as widespread and sophisticated, and it dominated the Elizabeth heroin trade, he said, adding Wilson was feared on the streets.
Wilson was released from prison in 2010 after serving an eight-year sentence for aggravated manslaughter and conspiracy to commit homicide, according to the Department of Corrections.
Six suspects were arrested in raids on Wilson’s residence on the 10 block of Barnes Court in Perth Amboy and at a residence on the 200 block of Branch Brook Drive in Belleville, Romankow said.
In addition to Perrin, also arrested were Kareem Anderson, 34, of Belleville and three Elizabeth residents, Cornell Sims, 26, Tamir Minter, 29, Edward Wood, 28, all charged with drug possession and distribution.
Bail was set at $1 million each, said Romankow. Shaniqua Sims, 29, of Perth Amboy, was charged with financial facilitation of criminal activity, drug possession and distribution and conspiracy to distribute. She is being held on $250,000 bail. Source: NJ.COM Tomas Dinges/The Star-Ledger.