Camden Drug Sting Nets 28 Arrests, 1 From Moorestown

A Moorestown man was among 28 people arrested Tuesday in what Camden County Police said was a “demand reduction” operation, targeting suburban drug buyers in South Camden.

Preston Williams, 52, was charged with loitering to commit a controlled dangerous substance offense, along with 25 other alleged buyers from the suburbs, all of whom face the possibility of six months in jail and $1,000 fines.

Williams and others like him are helping fuel the drug trade in Camden, Camden County Police Chief Scott Thomson said.

“The suburban drug buyer continues to be the lifeblood of the city's open-air drug markets. They are generally also responsible for the property and personal crimes in the neighborhoods from which they hail,” Thomson said in a statement. “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 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 Burlington, Camden 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