Greenwald: Violent Drug Gang Bust Shows Need for Assembly Gun Violence Prevention Bills

(TRENTON)—New Jersey Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald (D-Camden/Burlington) released the following statement Wednesday on preventing gun violence in New Jersey, after federal authorities announced a roundup of a violent street gangdistributing heroin in Atlantic City:

“The outstanding work done by our federal, state and local law enforcement to take down this violent drug gang deserves nothing but the highest praise. However, these arrests bring another potentially deadly problem to light. Critical gaps in New Jersey’s gun laws currently allow many convicted criminals to obtain the means to terrorize our streets with gun violence and dangerous criminal activity far too easily.

“While many convicted felons are barred from purchasing firearms, some of these same criminals can still easily purchase firearms ammunition. This dangerous reality is the latest evidence why New Jersey needs the Assembly package of legislation to prevent gun violence, which closes this dangerous gap in the law.

“A 2007 report from the State Commission of Investigation which randomly surveyed 60 retail outlets across 19 New Jersey counties found that 43 stores (nearly 75%) sold ammunition to people with criminal records. At one store alone, more than 15,000 rounds of handgun ammunition were sold to 42 convicted felons over a four-year period.

“Enough is enough. The time to get serious about preventing gun violence in New Jersey is long overdue, and that is why we need the Assembly package of legislation to become law.”

Part of a 22-bill package to prevent gun violence in New Jersey, A-1683 (Johnson) would close this dangerous gap in state law, prohibiting persons convicted of the following crimes from purchasing or possessing ammunition: aggravated assault, burglary, homicide, kidnapping, robbery, sexual assault, hate crimes, drug trafficking, human trafficking, racketeering, terrorism and other crimes.

NBC10: Takedown Targets Violent A.C. Drug Gang: Feds

At least two dozen men and women were arrested on charges of conspiracy to distribute heroin

By Ted Greenberg

| Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013

Federal authorities say an overnight roundup in Atlantic City significantly disrupted the operations of a violent street gang responsible for drug trafficking and shootings in the resort.

NBC10 was the only media outlet there when the FBI, Atlantic City Police, New Jersey State Police and other law enforcement agencies stormed numerous locations throughout the city. They arrested at least two dozen men and women on charges of conspiracy to distribute heroin. Investigators say the suspects are members and associates of a criminal street gang known as Dirty Block.

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, District of New Jersey, is scheduled to officially announce the “major takedown” at a noon news conference in Camden, along with other federal, county, and local members of law enforcement, according to a news release.

Sources tell NBC10’s Jersey Shore Bureau the arrests were the result of an investigation that began in the summer of 2010, when Atlantic City was hit with a huge increase in gun violence. According to sources, Dirty Block was responsible for a high number of shootings that summer and in subsequent years.

Sources also tell NBC10 that brothers Malik and Mykal Derry, already jailed and charged with murdering a man outside an Adriatic Avenue restaurant on February 10th, are linked to Dirty Block as well.