After Thursday Morning Plainfield Raid, Nine Defendants Charged for Roles in Drug Trafficking

PLAINFIELD, NJ — On the heels of raids this morning on the West End of Plainfield, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger announced that nine people have been charged for their respective roles in a drug trafficking organization that distributed large quantities of fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine in Union County and elsewhere.

TAPinto Plainfield was on the scene at around 8:30am for the raid of two multifamily homes on the 400 block of Grant Avenue, which involved Plainfield Police, Homeland Security Investigators, Perth Amboy Police, and other law enforcement agents. Dozens of officers were on the scene.

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Onlookers of the Grant Avenue raid reported that other homes on West 4th Street had been searched as well, near its intersection with Lee Place, only a block away. These onlookers reported seeing several arrests.

According to the U.S. Attorney Jerry Ross, 46, of Somerset, New Jersey; Joseph Ross, 42, of Rahway, New Jersey; Luis Delvalle, 41, Pernell White, 36, and Jaquay Bell, 35, all of Piscataway, New Jersey; Andre Gaddy, 31, of North Plainfield, New Jersey; Jacob Douglas, 42, Tarrell Strond, 42, and Tayeire Thomas, 26, all of Plainfield, New Jersey; are each charged by complaint with one count of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine. Six of the defendants are scheduled to appear today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cathy L. Waldor in Newark federal court. Douglas, White and Thomas remain at large.

The defendants are allegedly members and associates of a drug trafficking organization that operated an open-air narcotics market in and around the area of West 3rd Street in Plainfield, New Jersey. The organization is allegedly affiliated with, and the defendants are members and associates of, the Sex, Money, Murder criminal street gang, which is a set of the Bloods street gang.

For several months, law enforcement conducted extensive surveillance of the area, conducted numerous controlled purchases of narcotics, and analyzed telephone records, all of which demonstrated extensive interactions related to drug trafficking between and among the members or the conspiracy.

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U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of Homeland Security Investigations Newark, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge William S. Walker; the Union County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor William Daniel and Chief Harvey A. Barnwell; and officers of the Plainfield Police Department, under Director James Abney and Captain Brian Newman, with the investigation leading to the charges.

He also thanked U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, under the direction of Port Director TenaVel Thomas, Port of New York/Newark; officers of Perth Amboy Police Department under the direction of Chief Lawrence Catano, and prosecutors with the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice under the direction of New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin. He also thanked the New Jersey State Police.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason Goldberg and Rachelle M. Navarro of the Organized Crime and Gangs Unit in Newark.

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

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