Eighteen People Charged in Connection with Drug Trafficking Ring

CAMDEN, N.J. – Eighteen people have been charged for their alleged roles in a drug trafficking organization that distributed fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine in Camden, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced today.

Eleven defendants were arrested today and are expected to appear June 19, 2020, by videoconference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen M. Williams: Angel Rodriguez, 30; Manuel Bonilla, 35; Anderlis Martinez-Espinal, 19; Miguel Rodriguez, 27, Julio Medina, 29; Janet Lorenzo, 47; Normali Santiago, 36; Ray Santos, 35, all of Camden; Franklin Lorenzo-Gonzalez, 25, of Pennsauken, New Jersey; Bernardo Carambot, 36, and Alberto Perez, 26, both of Philadelphia.

Juan Cabrera, 30; Jabriel Rosa, 38; Hector Lopez, 31; Brian Smith, 33; Hector Mendez, 36; Pedro Yera, 25; Christian Rosario, 25; all of Camden, remain at large.

Each defendant is charged by complaint with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine.  

According to the documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From at least 2018, the defendants have all allegedly been members of a drug trafficking organization that dealt fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine in 300-400 blocks of Beckett Street, the 400 block of Royden Street, and the 600 block of Pine Street in Camden, where they distributed drugs to customers on foot and in vehicles. The organization also supplied drugs to customers and other distributors elsewhere, including areas in Philadelphia, Paulsboro, New Jersey, and Martinsburg, West Virginia.

Angel Rodriguez, Manuel Bonilla, Juan Cabrera, and Franklin Lorenzo-Gonzalez are the alleged leaders and managers, who obtained bulk supplies of narcotics, prepared and packaged those narcotics for street level sales, provided fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine for resale to customers, collected drug proceeds, operated multiple stash locations, and oversaw the daily sales and operation of the organization. Other members of the organization assisted in managing the sales on the street. High-level members of the drug trafficking organization laundered drug proceeds through bulk vehicle purchases and real estate.

The conspiracy charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 30 years in prison and a maximum potential penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine.

U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI’s South Jersey Violent Offender and Gang Task Force, South Jersey Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge of FBI Philadelphia, Michael Driscoll in Philadelphia; special agents of the FBI’s Eastern Panhandle Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge of FBI Pittsburgh, Michael Christman in Pittsburgh; the New Jersey State Police, under the direction of Col. Patrick J. Callahan; the Camden County Police Department, under the direction of Chief Joseph D. Wysocki; the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Jill S. Mayer; the Camden County Sheriff’s Department, under the direction of Sheriff Gilbert L. Wilson; special agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jason Molina, Newark Division; special agents of FBI Newark, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Douglas Korneski; special agents of FBI New York, Criminal Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jacqueline Maguire; the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Christine Hoffman; the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, under the direction of Attorney General Josh Shapiro; the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, under the direction of Director Jared M. Maples; and special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation in Newark, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael Montanez, with the investigation leading to the charges announced today.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alisa Shver of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Camden.

The charges and allegations contained in the complaints are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.