Heroin and weapons seized, 16 arrested in two-month South Jersey trafficking probe

EGG HARBOR CITY – Sixteen people were arrested Thursday, culminating a two-month joint investigation by Atlantic County, N.J., federal and municipal law enforcement agencies into illegal drugs and firearms trafficking that stretched from the southern United States into South Jersey.

Executing arrest and search warrants, law enforcement officers seized 21 firearms, including handguns, rifles, shotguns, and automatic weapons.  Firearm ammunition, automatic weapon magazines, about 10 ounces of cocaine and over 10,000 bags of heroin and fentanyl were also taken into possession.

Among the people arrested was Kenneth J. Burrell, 39, of Buffalo Avenue, Egg Harbor City. Burrell, the alleged kingpin of the operation, was charged as a leader of a narcotics trafficking network, a first-degree crime, along with numerous other weapon and drug charges.

Also arrested were Burrell's alleged accomplices from South Jersey and Georgia. One of them, Joshua Sims, 18, of Cooney Circle, Augusta, Ga., was taken into custody in Georgia, where he remains pending extradition proceedings.

The arrests, which were announced Saturday by Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon G. Tyner, were conducted beginning 4 a.m. Thursday, mostly in the Egg Harbor City area.