Five People Charged With Operating New Jersey Heroin Production Facility

December 6, 2007 -- Trenton, NJ -- New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced today that five people have been indicted on charges that they operated a heroin production facility in Passaic County.

According to Director Paw, Ramon Ariel Baez-Hernandez, 34, and Paula Calderin, 33, both of Paterson; and Ramon Mercado, 41, Andres Herman, 59, and Illian Garcia, 27, all of New York, were charged with first-degree maintaining or operating a controlled dangerous substance (CDS) production facility, first-degree manufacturing a CDS, first-degree possession with intent to distribute, as well as second-degree conspiracy and third-degree possession with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of school property.

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The indictment alleges that on July 10, 2007 after stopping Baez-Hernandez while he was driving a 2001 Volkswagen Passat, a New Jersey State Police trooper found a bag in the car containing more than 5,000 decks of heroin with a value of more than $100,000.

Upon further investigation, State Police troopers and detectives converged on 522 Summer St., Apartment 2 in Paterson, where the Passat was registered. They encountered Calderin, who owned the Passat, outside the apartment. Calderin allegedly created a commotion in an attempt to warn others in the apartment of the presence of police. It is charged that detectives entered the apartment and allegedly found Garcia, Herman and Mercado processing and packaging heroin in the stifling heat with no ventilation.

Later that day, New Jersey State Police Drug Trafficking Unit - North executed a search warrant and found that two of the seven rooms in the apartment were allegedly dedicated to heroin production. The search allegedly turned up at least 25 different stamps and inkpads, 100,000+ empty glassine bags, cutting agents, 11 grinders and heroin in various stages of packaging. One hundred and ten decks of heroin and a syringe were allegedly found in Calderin’s purse. The total amount of heroin allegedly discovered was three pounds.

Deputy Attorney General Lauren Scarpa and the New Jersey State Police Drug Trafficking Unit – North coordinated the investigation. Scarpa presented the case to the state grand jury.

The indictment is merely an accusation and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. First-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in state prison and a fine of up to $200,000; second-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in state prison and a $150,000 criminal fine; and third-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of five years in state prison and a fine of up to $15,000.

Source: New Jersey Attorney General