Authorities have busted a multi-million dollar heroin ring that they say hawked drugs just steps from a high school and a playground in New Jersey.
Authorities are charging 15 people with conspiracy to distribute heroin. Two of them also are accused of being ring leaders and are charged with engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise.
Officials say the ring made between $4 million and $7 million a year.
Officials say the ring operated out of a building on Johnson Avenue in Newark. The dead-end street made it difficult for law enforcement because lookouts were paid to alert the suspects.
Authorities say residents kept their doors unlocked so dealers could run through the building and exit by fire escapes.
U.S. Attorney called the operation a "24/7 illegal drug bazaar."
“This location is just a few doors away from the playing fields of Malcolm X. Shabazz High School and the playground and basketball courts of Terrell James Park," he said. "Law abiding citizens shouldn’t have to worry about drug dealing where their children are trying to learn and play."
Local
Authorities said that over the last six months dealers in the ring sold 4 1/2 pound of high-quality heroin per week.
Six suspects remain at large.
The arrested suspects were expected to appear in federal court on Thursday.
