Police: Bridgeton gang members arrested in Salem County
By JOHN MARTINS
Staff Writer, 856-794-5114
Published: Thursday, October 09, 2008
BRIDGETON - Police in Salem County arrested a number of alleged gangsters from this city as part of a statewide crackdown on gang violence.State officials announced Wednesday that members of the Fruit Town Brims and Milltown Mafia - which Bridgeton police identified as gangs operating in the city - were arrested in a months-long operation conducted jointly by law enforcement agencies at the city, county and state level.Salem County Prosecutor John Lenahan said 49 people were arrested in the city of Salem and adjacent Quinton Township on Tuesday alone. During those raids, he added, police seized five cars, almost $9,000 in cash, more than $1,500 in cocaine and marijuana and two weapons.According to a news release issued by Lenahan's office, Tuesday's arrests and seizures capped a four-month investigation that yielded almost 200 arrests of gang members or their associates.The release did not indicate where the suspects were from.
In the past 17 weeks, police in Salem County also recovered more than 700 bags of cocaine, marijuana and other street drugs such as heroin and methamphetamine, which had a total street value of about $25,000.In a news conference Wednesday, state Attorney General Anne Milgram joined Lenahan and State Police representatives in praising Salem County's efforts."The success of the initiative in Salem is a direct result of intelligence-led policing, which targeted the leading members of street gangs trafficking in illegal drugs," Milgram said in a news release.Bridgeton Lt. Michael Gaimari said Wednesday that Cumberland County continues to take part in the same statewide effort, which officials dubbed the Strategy for Safe Streets and Neighborhoods.He also said some of those arrested in Salem had deep connections to the criminal underworld in his city, which is located just 17 miles away."The people that were picked up in Salem, from what we understand, are people who had relocated from Bridgeton or were going back and forth between Bridgeton and Salem as part of their regular gang activity," Gaimari said.The sale of illegal drugs, he added, serves as the gangs' primary enterprise, although several other types of crimes - including street robberies and weapons offenses - have also been attributed to both groups.While Gaimari applauded the arrests made in neighboring Salem County, he said gangs continue to operate in Bridgeton and throughout Cumberland County."There are some key arrests of Bridgeton people," Gaimari said. "But we still have activity."E-mail John Martins:JMartins@pressofac.com
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