Crime & Safety
Glouco Residents Arrested in Camden Drug Sting
The majority of those arrested come from the suburbs to buy drugs, police said.
A police crackdown on the open-air drug markets of South Camden City netted nearly 30 arrests of suburban drug customers in a “demand reduction” operation, according to a press release issued Wednesday by the Camden County government.
Josie Murice, 21, of Wenonah; Ronald Hoskins, 33, of Woodbury; and 19-year-old Cornelius Walker of Deptford were among 28 individuals from the West Deptford area arrested in the sting.
Everyone arrested has been charged with loitering to commit a controlled dangerous substance (CDS) offense, which carries a potential sentence of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
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The drug trade in Camden City is fueled by a suburban customer base, Camden County Police Chief Scott Thomson said in a statement accompanying details of the arrest.
“The suburban drug buyer continues to be the lifeblood of the city's open-air drug markets," Thomson said.
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"They are generally also responsible for the property and personal crimes in the neighborhoods from which they hail," Thomson said. By sharing this arrestee information with the surrounding police departments, hopefully these individuals can be interdicted prior to coming into Camden.”
The statistics are similar to those from "Operation Padlock," a series of drug busts in Camden’s Pyne Point neighborhood last fall, where 78 percent of the alleged buyers were from outside the city—primarily the suburbs in Camden, Burlington and Gloucester counties.
The latest arrests are part of a continued focus on the street corner drug trade in Camden, officials said.
“Residents from throughout the region come to Camden City to patronize the open-air drug markets, and the Metro Division is sending them a very blunt message: This city is no longer open for this kind of business,” Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli Jr. said in a statement. “If you want to continue to fuel the narcotics trade in Camden County, you will be arrested.”
The full list of those arrested Tuesday is below:
Name
AGE
TOWN
Joseph Holmes
35
Audubon
Daniel Valdez
30
Bellmawr
Daniel Conley
32
Brooklawn
Aimee Slak
20
Browns Mills
Joseph Payne
53
Camden
John Graziano
49
Camden
Faith Ruffin
44
Camden
Christian King
19
Cherry Hill
Cornellius Walker
19
Deptford
Stephen Allen
28
Gloucester City
Andrew Thomas
27
Gloucester City
Heather Reed
37
Gloucester City
Ryan Marter
20
Gloucester City
Kyle Reven
20
Gloucester City
Sean Karwowski
42
Magnolia
Preston Williams
52
Moorestown
Vincent Evangelista
26
Philadelphia
Jennifer Larkin
28
Philadelphia
Mark Brownlow
28
Pine Hill
Felicia Kane
18
Pitman
Lorretta Lang
47
Sewell
Anthony Paolucci
31
Sewell
Joshua Morgan
27
Sicklerville
Robert Thomas
53
Sicklerville
Dawn Huff
40
West Berlin
Josie Murice
21
Wenonah
Ronald Hoskins
33
Woodbury
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