Gang-Related Jersey Shore Heroin Ring; Some Buyers From Bayville

A grand jury handed up a 98-count indictment charging 41 people for their alleged roles in a gang-affiliated heroin trafficking organization responsible for distributing heroin throughout Monmouth and Ocean counties, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni announced on Wednesday.

Those buyers came from several towns throughout the two counties including Oceanport, West Long Branch, Rumson, Eatontown, Red Bank, Bayville, Little Silver and Sea Bright. As part of the investigation three firearms and five vehicles were also seized as part of the operation along with various amounts of cocaine and marijuana.

Gramiccioni said the investigation, dubbed Operation Hats Off, launched in in the spring of 2012. Members of the Fruit Town Brims, a subset of the Bloods gang, and their conspirators were selling close to 200 bricks, or 10,000 bags, of heroin on a weekly basis, Gramiccioni said. That included more than 1,000 bags of heroin that were sold to undercover detectives on dozens of occasions, according to a Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office press release. The estimated street value of the heroin seized was estimated at more than $150,000.

Three of the ringleaders of the operation included 23-year-old Ronald Daniels Jr. of Long Branch, 21-year-old Anna Flores of Highlands and Christopher Moon, 21, also of Highlands, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office press release. Other members allegedly involved included Ezra Young, 22, Donte Gilliard, 22 and Damier Johnson of Long Branch, as well as Dashawn Graves, 20, of Newark. They were among the people involved who were charged with racketeering conspiracy.

The Prosecutor’s Office identified Hassain Jenkins, 39, of Orange and Louis Pennington, a/k/a “Gangsta,”29, of Long Branch as the “primary heroin suppliers.” Daniels and other members of the Fruit Town Brims allegedly arranged for the “repeated purchase and transport of large quantities of heroin from Essex County,” according to the announcement. The drugs were then sold to other buyers in the area.

The indictments come after the individuals were charged back in December from an effort involving the Prosecutor’s Office as well as other law enforcement agencies.

Gramiccioni said the arrests were an important step in law enforcement’s fight against heroin, calling it “a significant public health concern.” He added, “The drug is unforgiving and it kills indiscriminately.” Calling heroin an “epidemic,” Gramiccioni said, “Any level of denial is unacceptable.”

Operation Hats Off may not stop the problem of heroin in the county, but Gramiccioni said it was a major step. 

“But we need to do more. We are soon embarking on an education and awareness campaign, in cooperation with the state Office of the Attorney General and the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey, to get the message out that this problem cannot be ignored or swept under the proverbial rug," Gramiccioni said  "We need to open our eyes to the heroin-induced problems plaguing families in our cities, the suburbs and our rural areas.”

Agencies that contributed to the effort included the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office and Police Departments from Long Branch, Asbury Park, Neptune, Tinton Falls, Deal, Highlands, Ocean Township, Wall Township, Belmar, Eatontown, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, the United States Marshal’s Service and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutor Noah Heck of the Narcotics and Criminal Enterprises Division.