$127K In Narcotics, 4 Guns Seized In Mercer Co. Drug Bust

MERCER COUNTY, NJ — A five-month narcotics investigation spanning three municipalities ended in an arrest, seizure of roughly $127,000 in drugs and recovery of four firearms, Mercer County Prosecutor Janetta D. Marbrey said Wednesday.

Ronald C. Smith, 43, of Roebling, was taken into custody at his Norman Avenue residence around 6:50 a.m. Monday after detectives from the Mercer County Narcotics Task Force executed search warrants at multiple properties in Ewing, Trenton and Roebling.

Smith faces multiple first- and second-degree narcotics charges as well as second-degree weapons offenses. Prosecutors have filed a motion to detain him pending trial.

Investigators say Smith held keys to three additional properties searched in the operation. What they found inside painted a picture of a distribution network spread across the region.

At a property on New Trent Street in Ewing, detectives recovered 100 grams of crack cocaine, one brick of heroin, two high-capacity magazines and assorted ammunition, Marbrey said.

At an apartment on Old Rose Street in Trenton, detectives found 1,800 ecstasy tablets, five bricks of heroin, a 9mm Beretta handgun and a stolen 9mm Springfield handgun.

The largest haul came from a shed on Brenwal Avenue in Ewing, where police K-9 Loki first flagged the presence of narcotics before a search turned up 700 grams of powder cocaine, 40 bricks of heroin, 10 grams of raw heroin and a .380 caliber handgun. A single-barrel shotgun was also recovered at the property, according to Marbrey.

Loki's handler, Hamilton Police Officer Paul Piromalli, conducted the exterior and interior sniff that led to the shed search.

A search of Smith's Roebling residence yielded around $9,500 in cash and assorted financial records.

Prosecutors estimated the street value of the seized narcotics at roughly $127,000 — including $70,000 in powder cocaine, $36,000 in ecstasy tablets, $10,000 in crack cocaine, $9,200 in packaged heroin and $2,000 in raw heroin.

The investigation was led by the Mercer County Narcotics Task Force with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the New Jersey State Police, the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office, the Mercer County Sheriff's Office and the Ewing and Hamilton police departments.

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