Feds charge 31 with pushing cocaine, crack, heroin in Burlington County

Thirty-one people, including a Philadelphia man described as a ringleader, have been charged with participating in two drug operations that pumped cocaine, crack, and heroin onto the streets of Burlington County, federal officials said Thursday.

The accused — 28 arrested Thursday including one person already in state custody, and three still at large — worked as members, associates, and suppliers of two overlapping drug-trafficking conspiracies from July through September mainly in Willingboro, Burlington City, Burlington Township, Bordentown Township, Edgewater Park, Pemberton, and Mount Laurel, officials said.

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“The defendants charged in this case were responsible for moving large quantities of dangerous drugs through the streets of Burlington County and elsewhere,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said in Trenton.

“Taking this number of people off the street required a massive and coordinated effort by our office and other federal and state law enforcement organizations. These arrests should go a long way toward making our streets safer.”

Twenty defendants were charged for their alleged roles in a cocaine and crack ring operated by Herbert Mays, 62, of Willingboro, authorities say. Twelve others were charged with involvement in a cocaine, crack, and heroin ring allegedly run by Talib Conway, 39, of Philadelphia. Defendant Teron Huggins, 42, of Mount Laurel is charged with participating in both drug rings.

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“The success of today’s operation is largely attributed to the close working relationship between federal, state, and local law enforcement,” said FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Gregory W. Ehrie, Newark.

Those arrested Thursday were scheduled for afternoon appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas E. Arpert in federal court in Trenton.

According to court documents and statements made in court, law enforcement officials learned through interception of telephone calls, text messages, and other investigative techniques that the defendants obtained regular supplies of cocaine from conspirators in the Philadelphia area.

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The defendants then redistributed that cocaine, portions of which they converted into crack cocaine, to distributors, sub-dealers, and end users throughout Burlington County and elsewhere, according to the documents.

During the wiretap portion of the investigation, officials intercepted numerous communications among the conspirators discussing cocaine, crack, and heroin quality and availability, pricing, packaging, quantity, and customer satisfaction, the documents say.