| TRENTON – Acting Attorney General Robert Lougy announced that three brothers pleaded guilty today to first-degree racketeering for leading a violent drug ring in Camden that had ties to Mexican drug cartels and was dealing millions of dollars a year in heroin and cocaine. The ring was dismantled by the Division of Criminal Justice and its partners in “Operation North Pole” in November 2013.
Omar Urbina Sr., 42, of Philadelphia, Pa., Edwin Urbina, 39, of Camden, and Edward Urbina, 36, of Camden, each pleaded guilty today to first-degree racketeering before Superior Court Judge John T. Kelly in Camden. Under their plea agreements, the state will recommend that Omar be sentenced to 14 years in state prison, including nearly 12 years of parole ineligibility, and that each of his two brothers be sentenced to 10 years in state prison, including 8 ½ years of parole ineligibility. Deputy Attorneys General Rachael Weeks and Lisa Rastelli took the guilty pleas for the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau. The three men are scheduled to be sentenced on May 27.
“Operation North Pole dismantled this violent narcotics syndicate from top to bottom, ending their corrosive stranglehold on the North Camden neighborhoods where they operated,” said Acting Attorney General Lougy. “With these guilty pleas, we have ensured that the leaders of this ring will be behind bars for many years and will not be able to re-establish their violent dynasty.”
“When we dismantled this drug ring in November 2013 with the Camden Police and our other law enforcement partners, it represented the largest drug bust in the city in at least a decade,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “These guilty pleas from the three ringleaders are a testament to the strong racketeering case built by our detectives, attorneys and law enforcement partners.”
The three brothers were charged in a Sept. 12, 2014 indictment stemming from “Operation North Pole.” The three men controlled open-air drug markets at and around the intersections of 4th and York Streets and 3rd and Erie Streets in North Camden, selling hundreds of thousands of dollars a month in heroin and cocaine. The Urbinas and their associates controlled those drug markets for 20 years, relying on violence to protect their turf from interlopers. The indictment charged 42 defendants, including four alleged suppliers for the ring, one of whom allegedly used his ties to Mexican drug cartels to act as the ring’s primary supplier of heroin and cocaine. The investigation revealed that the enterprise was large, highly structured and well-organized. The Urbinas not only distributed heroin and cocaine using their own packaging, but also allowed others to “rent” blocks or corners to distribute their own drugs in a different type of packaging. In return for cash payments, the Urbinas provided protection to the “tenants.” Thirty-six defendants have pleaded guilty, including 14 who pleaded before the indictment.
The Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau conducted Operation North Pole with assistance from the Camden County Police Department-Metro Division, Camden County Sheriff’s Department, Pennsauken Police Department and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations in Cherry Hill. Numerous agencies, including the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, helped execute arrest and search warrants during the takedown of the ring in November 2013, when most of the defendants were arrested.
Deputy Attorney General Darryl Richardson presented the indictment to the state grand jury for the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau. Detectives Peppi Pichette and Brian Woolston were lead detectives for Operation North Pole. Deputy Attorneys General Andrew Johns, Julia S. Glass and Martin Steiner also have prosecuted defendants in the case, under the supervision of Bureau Chief Lauren Scarpa Yfantis and Deputy Bureau Chief Erik Daab. Many other attorneys and detectives of the Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau South Unit assisted with the case. #### |
