Fake 9-1-1 Call Leads to Drug Bust in Gloucester Township: Police

Gloucester Township, NJ -- A blank text message to 9-1-1 resulted in the seizure of a large amount of narcotics and the arrests of three people, Gloucester Township Police said Thursday evening.

Police dispatch received the blank text message around 1:12 a.m. on June 14, and treated it as a hangup 9-1-1 call from a cell phone. Officers were sent to a residence on Ashland Avenue after police located the phone via GPS.

Although police could tell people were inside the home, they didn’t receive an answer at the front door for over an hour.

After many attempts to contact the cell phone by Police Dispatchers, a man eventually answered the phone, police said. This man was later identified as 34-year-old Rene Cruz, of Camden.

Dispatchers said Cruz sound disoriented, and believed he may be in distress.

Cruz eventually answered the front door and admitted he sent the text. He said two other people were “passed out” inside the home, police said.

While checking on their welfare, officers said they located a significant quantity of raw marijuana in the residence.
Further investigation revealed  a total of 3 1/2 pounds of raw marijuana, 42 Oxycodone pills, drug packaging materials, and $12,830 in cash, police said.

Police believe the narcotics belonged to 35-year-old Steven Rivera, of Gloucester Township, who was one of the two men who were passed out.

Rivera was charged with possession with intent to distribute CDS (Marijuana & Oxycodone) and  CDS paraphernalia.

Cruz was arrested on an outstanding warrant for his arrest out of Deptford.

The other man who was passed out, 35-year-old Neomaya Davila, of Winslow, was arrested on an outstanding warrant for his arrest out of Camden.