Pair Busted With 40 Grams Of Fentanyl At Toms River Motel: Prosecutor

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Two Philadelphia residents have been charged with fentanyl distribution after a bust that seized 40 grams of the powerful opiate at a Toms River motel, authorities said Wednesday.

Farid Brown, 24, and Ganiel L. Howard, 25, also of Philadelphia, were arrested Dec. 28 when authorities executed a no-knock search warrant on a room at the Howard Johnson motel and found a large quantity of fentanyl, according to a joint news release from Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato and Toms River Chief of Police Mitchell Little.

Fentanyl, which has is 100 times more powerful than morphine, was tied to a number of 2016 overdose deaths in Ocean County because heroin is being laced with the powerful opiate, Coronato has said.

In a three-week period during the summer of 2016 where there were 20 overdoses, 17 of them were linked to heroin laced with fentanyl, he said.

The drug is so powerful and so dangerous that police officers have been harmed handling it. A police officer in Atlantic City overdosed while handling packets of the drug because the fentanyl was absorbed into his skin, Coronato has said.

The investigation by detectives from the prosecutor’s Special Operations Group Northern Enforcement Unit and members of the Toms River Police Special Enforcement Team began in mid-December, said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office. Brown was identified as the person believed to be supplying heroin and distributing it in Toms River, he said.

On Dec. 28, detectives learned Brown was staying in a room at the Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodge on Hooper Avenue, and that evening the warrant was executed, Della Fave said.

As a result of the search warrant, detectives recovered approximately 40 grams of a white powder believed to be heroin in raw form as well as in prepackaged individual dosage units. Detectives also recovered drug paraphernalia such as rubber bands, hundreds of new unused wax folds, a scale and a small spoon often associated with the packaging and distribution of heroin, he said. When the powder was tested later by the sheriff’s department CSI lab, however, the test results revealed the powder was fentanyl, Della Fave said.

Brown and Howard were in the room and were arrested when the warrant was executed, Della Fave said.

Brown, of Callowhill Street, Philadelphia, was charged with possession of CDS (heroin/fentanyl), possession of CDS (heroin/fentanyl) over one-half ounce with intent to distribute, and possession of drug paraphernalia, and is being held at the Ocean County Jail, Toms River, in lieu of $150,000 bail, no 10 percent, as set by Superior Court Judge Wendel E. Daniels, Della Fave said.

Howard, of North 58th Street, Philadelphia, was charged with conspiracy to possess CDS (heroin/fentanyl) over one-half ounce with intent to distribute and was released with a complaint summons pending future court dates, he said.

Capt. Jack Sramaty of the prosecutor's office, commander of the Special Operations Group, praised the efforts of all the detectives involved in the investigation.

“The dedication and commitment of the detectives of both the Special Operations Group and the Toms River Police Department are second to none," Sramaty said. "As a team, the Prosecutor’s Office along with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners will continue to relentlessly identify, investigate and prosecute the dealers whose illegal activities are impacting Ocean County.”

The Toms River Police Department’s Emergency Services Unit, Operations Bureau and K-9 Unit also participated in and assisted in the investigation, authorities said.

Farid Brown via Ocean County Corrections Department; heroin image via Shutterstock