Credit: Pam Jones
A large investigation into drug trafficking and firearms offenses in New Jersey extended into Middletown Township’s Levittown section Tuesday morning.
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Around dawn, FBI special agents and other members of law enforcement with rifles drawn went to a home on Tulip Tree Road. The abrupt activity caught the attention of residents preparing for the day ahead.
Sources said the raid was part of the New Jersey investigation and took place at the same time as similar raids across the river, which was later confirmed by federal authorities.
Middletown Township police said they assisted with logistics, but they were otherwise not involved with the investigation.
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Glenn Moore, 29, of Levittown, was among 12 people charged as part of the probe. He was among 10 of the defendants arrested Tuesday morning, with the others already in custody and one still being sought. Clinton “C-Rod” Rodriguez, 46, of Morrisville, was among those arrested.
The two Lower Bucks County men were charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, according to court documents.
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An FBI special agent wrote in court papers that the probe began in July 2020 when authorities were investigating those “engaged in unlawful drug-trafficking activities in and around the area of Garfield, Cleveland, and Logan Avenues in the City of Trenton, New Jersey, and elsewhere.”
The investigation included undercover drug buys, interceptions of communications, and seizures of drugs and firearms.
According to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in New Jersey and unsealed Tuesday, Moore was purchasing drugs from one of the defendants from Trenton and reselling it.
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Intercepted text messages stated one alleged drug dealer fronted Moore 400 bricks of heroin and 200 grams of crack cocaine, which was worth tens of thousands of dollars, to sell.
In May, Moore reported to another drug peddler that his house in Levittown had been burglarized. He suspected it was a “f**king fiend” and he needed more drugs to redistribute, according to court records.
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Rodriguez reportedly received “significant quantities of cocaine and crack cocaine” from another alleged dealer. He was slated to resell the drugs, authorities said.
U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Philip Sellinger commended the Greater Trenton Safe Streets Task Force, which is made up of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies led by the FBI Trenton Resident Agency; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); Trenton police; Burlington City Police Department; Burlington Township Police Department; Willingboro Township Police Department; and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office for their assistance in the probe.
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