400 cops break up drive thru coke ring
November 20, 2005 - nj.com
More than 100 people were arrested in a massive drug bust that spilled across northern New Jersey early yesterday morning, crippling a million-dollar distribution network believed to be one of the main suppliers of cocaine in Morris County, authorities said.
Seizing cash, coke, cars and guns, nearly 400 officers from 31 agencies swept across Morris, Essex, Sussex and Warren counties, taking down customers, dealers and the ring's alleged kingpin, a cook at Cerilli's Restaurant in Randolph.
Prosecutors said the cook, 31-year-old Alejandro Anda-Rodriguez of Dover, ran a bustling wholesale operation out of the restaurant's kitchen, where authorities said they found cash and cocaine packaged for distribution during yesterday's raid.
"The cook was running a drive-through cocaine business at this restaurant," said Morris County Prosecutor Michael M. Rubbinaccio. "This was one of the main sources of cocaine in Morris County, this distribution network, and we dismantled it."
Along with the alleged kingpin cook, the four-county sweep netted Cerilli's owner -- Cataldo Cerilli, 46, of Dover -- two former minor-league baseball players, the daughter of an alleged Luchese crime family soldier and a man who tried to interfere with one of the arrests by "brandishing a machete-like weapon," authorities said in a news release issued yesterday afternoon.
The number of arrests makes the operation one of the largest busts ever in New Jersey, with 110 people charged with a variety of possession, distribution and conspiracy charges. Though all the arrests were carried out in the morning, 21 suspects were still lined up last night outside the Morris County Jail.
Authorities would not disclose the quantity or street value of the drugs recovered, though they did say the operation grossed roughly $1 million a year and spread cocaine around the county. In addition to the cocaine found in the restaurant and on several suspects, authorities said they also took less than $100,000 in cash, several handguns and 65 cars used by midlevel dealers to distribute the drugs.
"The primary purpose of this was to make arrests," said Deputy Chief Paul Kalleberg of the Morris County Prosecutor's Office. "Drugs were seized, but that was incidental to the arrests."
Rubbinaccio said more details will be released today.
At Cerilli's on Old Brookside Road, diners enjoy upscale candlelit meals, indulging in such Italian delicacies as wood plank salmon with garlic and sun dried tomatoes.
The newly opened restaurant is the second venture for brothers Carlo and Cataldo Cerilli, who previously ran the well-regarded Luigi's Restaurant in Roxbury.
Last night, Cerilli's hosted a steady stream of customers, seemingly unaware of the carefully calculated raid carried out earlier in the day.
But authorities said the bistro with the starched white tablecloths and elegant waiters is the same place where top Morris County drug dealers carried out wholesale deals while oblivious patrons dined inside.
Most of the drugs were dealt out of the kitchen's back door and served to trusted distributors waiting in the parking lot, authorities said. Police also said some customers would pick up their drugs after eating dinner or make deals at the restaurant's bar.
Last night, both Cerilli brothers were at the restaurant, with Cataldo Cerilli out on 10 percent of his $7,500 bail. Walking out of the kitchen wiping his brow, Carlo Cerilli, who was not charged with any crime, declined to discuss the raid.
"It's no comment. I don't know anything about it. Sorry," he said.
Reached by phone last night at her Dover home, Cataldo Cerilli's wife, Janine Cerilli, also insisted her husband had no knowledge of the drug operation.
"My husband is innocent. He is not involved in anything illegal," she said.
"We have an excellent reputation. Nothing like this has happened before. ... When you have employees who do something wrong, it's not your fault," she said.
Cataldo Cerilli declined to comment later when reached by phone at the restaurant. He was one of only three suspects who posted bail yesterday. Neither of the other two was identified last night.
Dubbed "Operation Bulldog" by authorities, yesterday's busts wrapped up six months of work by an 80-officer task force led by Capt. Jeff Paul of the prosecutor's office, Rubbinaccio said. To infiltrate the operation, the task force staked out various locations, set up wiretaps and dined undercover at the restaurant.
The investigation came to a head about 3 a.m. yesterday, when 392 officers gathered at the Morris County Fire Fighters and Police Training Academy in Parsippany for a briefing.
Stressing safety first, Paul and the prosecutor's chief of investigations, Joseph Devine, addressed the assembly of officers, many of whom had no previous knowledge of the operation. Crowded into a university-style lecture hall with stadium seating, the officers were split into 145 teams and handed roughly 150 arrest warrants.
As the sun came up, officers swept through the four counties, rounding up 110 people in just four hours. By 9:30 a.m., the first wave of suspects was being led into the academy's gymnasium, which was cordoned off into three sections for processing. Once the paperwork was complete, the suspects were loaded onto buses and taken to the Morris County Jail.
Among those brought in were two former minor-league baseball players, Estenvison Ramirez and Violenny Marte, who authorities said were main distributors for the ring.
Ramirez, 24, was an infielder in the Chicago White Sox organization and appeared in 29 rookie league games in 2003. Marte, also 24, was a right-hand pitcher who signed with the Houston Astros, though he only played a single minor league season. Both players hail from Azua, Dominican Republic.
Also busted was Danielle DeMary, the daughter of alleged Luchese crime family soldier Louis "Dukie" DeMary. Authorities said DeMary was one of the ring's customers.
Bails for the suspects, ranged from $7,500 to $250,000, authorities said, with 107 people remaining in the Morris County Jail last night.
Though the investigation nabbed scores of suspects, authorities said the cocaine ring featured few of the characteristics commonly associated with sophisticated drug operations.
Drugs allegedly were stashed and sold at the same location and none of the cars seized suggested an extravagant lifestyle among the dealers. The ring also was not particularly violent, authorities said, and did not employ a gang-like hierarchy.
Instead, authorities said it set up a trusted group of distributors who would pick up drugs at the restaurant and distribute them to second-tier dealers elsewhere in the county "who didn't know where the cocaine was coming from," said Rubbinaccio.
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