Officials named 28-year-old Ashley Bailey of the Camden County Police Department among the accused.
By Matt Skoufalos
Logo, Camden County Prosecutors Office. Credit: Camden County Prosecutors Office.
A suburban drug ring that authorities say moved more than $1.2 million in annual sales and was supported by inside information from a Camden County police officer was broken up in early-morning raids Tuesday.
In serving five warrants for a bust labeled “Operation Southern District,” the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, Camden County Police Department, and New Jersey State Police arrested 40 South Jersey residents and seized $85,000 worth of drugs, $11,000 in cash, three vehicles, and four guns.
“The network allegedly supplied heroin and crack cocaine to lower-level dealers in Camden and Atlantic counties,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. “The drugs also reached buyers in Burlington, Gloucester and Ocean counties.”
Among those arrested was Camden County Police Officer Ashley Bailey, the wife of 30-year-old Camden City resident Edward Ingram, who was also arrested on conspiracy charges.
Bailey’s alleged connection to the group kick-started the investigation when it was identified by her fellow county police officers.
Prosecutors say Bailey “allegedly accessed confidential information related to targets of this investigation and alerted those suspects to her findings” as well as “[allegedly] releasing confidential information given to her during departmental briefings.”
If convicted, Bailey faces as much as 30 years in prison on charges of official misconduct, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, conspiracy, and terroristic threats.
Ingram’s brother, Nathan, 35; Donyell Calm, 31; and Kareem Anderson, 33, all of Camden, were named as the heads of the operation and face charges of: leading a narcotics trafficking network, possession of a dangerous controlled substance, possession with intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance and conspiracy. Each could serve as least 20 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
Twenty-one-year-old Lawrence Brown of Camden City, who faces the same charges as Calm, Nathan Ingram, and Anderson, remains at large, prosecutors said.
Calm is facing additional charges of attempted murder, unlawful possession of a weapon, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose in connection with a non-fatal April 2014 shooting in Camden City.
Among those arrested on conspiracy charges was 28-year-old Haddon Township resident Andrew Colavecchio, who also was charged with possession of a controlled, dangerous substance; possession with intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance; and endangering the welfare of a child.
All persons charged with criminal offenses are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law.
