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Cops nab 6 linked to North Jersey drug gang
by Russell Ben-Ali/The Star-Ledger Friday March 21, 2008, 12:56 PM
The leader of a North Jersey narcotics ring with ties to a violent Jamaican drug posse was arrested along with several of his associates, including a UPS driver who delivered cocaine for the ring along his Teaneck route, authorities said today.
A joint task force led by officers from the gangs units of the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with Elmwood Park police, arrested six members and associates of the drug gang on Thursday. They seized an estimated $200,000 in cocaine, $85,000 cash, a Romanian-made AK-47 assault rifle, a loaded Taurus 9mm. semi-automatic handgun, two luxury cars and $40,000 in jewelry, authorities said.
The alleged ringleader, Oral Watson, 31, of Paterson, is being held at the Passaic County Jail on $500,000 bail, said Passaic County Prosecutor James Avigliano.
Authorities described Watson as a Jamaican national who moved to New Jersey as a child and became a flamboyant ringleader who threw lavish parties in rented music halls. He owned a 2007 BMW and a 2004 Mercedes that were seized by police and a four-story Paterson home where officers found a closet full of designer clothes and about 300 boxes of shoes belonging to his girlfriend, a telephone company employee who was not arrested in the sweep, authorities said.
Watson was arrested as he tried to drive away from a drug stash house in Hackensack, authorities said. His car rammed a police vehicle as he jumped out and fled on foot, said Ricky Rosario, a Passaic County Sheriff's Department detective sergeant and a member of the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office Narcotics Task Force. Watson was arrested after a short chase.
Amilcar Caballero-Pardo, 35, of Garfield, a UPS employee for 14 years, was arrested Thursday at a UPS hub in Secaucus, Rosario said. He had been observed delivering drugs, which were hidden inside computers, to Watson along his Teaneck route, Rosario said.
Also arrested was Dwight Donald Lewis, 37, an alleged drug gang leader from Paterson, Laura Kida, 39, of Parsippany, Carlos Calle-Munoz, 26, of Dover, and Fabricio Zambrano, 27, of Morristown. All were charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
The ring distributed drugs out of Morris, Passaic and Bergen counties and has ties to the Shower Posse, a violent drug gang in Jamaica, authorities said.
by Russell Ben-Ali/The Star-Ledger Friday March 21, 2008, 12:56 PM
The leader of a North Jersey narcotics ring with ties to a violent Jamaican drug posse was arrested along with several of his associates, including a UPS driver who delivered cocaine for the ring along his Teaneck route, authorities said today.
A joint task force led by officers from the gangs units of the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with Elmwood Park police, arrested six members and associates of the drug gang on Thursday. They seized an estimated $200,000 in cocaine, $85,000 cash, a Romanian-made AK-47 assault rifle, a loaded Taurus 9mm. semi-automatic handgun, two luxury cars and $40,000 in jewelry, authorities said.
The alleged ringleader, Oral Watson, 31, of Paterson, is being held at the Passaic County Jail on $500,000 bail, said Passaic County Prosecutor James Avigliano.
Authorities described Watson as a Jamaican national who moved to New Jersey as a child and became a flamboyant ringleader who threw lavish parties in rented music halls. He owned a 2007 BMW and a 2004 Mercedes that were seized by police and a four-story Paterson home where officers found a closet full of designer clothes and about 300 boxes of shoes belonging to his girlfriend, a telephone company employee who was not arrested in the sweep, authorities said.
Watson was arrested as he tried to drive away from a drug stash house in Hackensack, authorities said. His car rammed a police vehicle as he jumped out and fled on foot, said Ricky Rosario, a Passaic County Sheriff's Department detective sergeant and a member of the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office Narcotics Task Force. Watson was arrested after a short chase.
Amilcar Caballero-Pardo, 35, of Garfield, a UPS employee for 14 years, was arrested Thursday at a UPS hub in Secaucus, Rosario said. He had been observed delivering drugs, which were hidden inside computers, to Watson along his Teaneck route, Rosario said.
Also arrested was Dwight Donald Lewis, 37, an alleged drug gang leader from Paterson, Laura Kida, 39, of Parsippany, Carlos Calle-Munoz, 26, of Dover, and Fabricio Zambrano, 27, of Morristown. All were charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
The ring distributed drugs out of Morris, Passaic and Bergen counties and has ties to the Shower Posse, a violent drug gang in Jamaica, authorities said.
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