Crime Alert – Heroin and Cocaine Distribution (Arrest) – On the afternoon of Thursday, August 27, 2015, Lieutenant Patrick Ganley of the Lacey Township Police Department was approached by a concerned citizen who reported that a suspicious person drove behind the self-wash bays of the Lacey Car Wash and briefly entered a wooded area. The citizen reported that the male subject appeared to have placed an unknown object in the wooded area prior to departing in a newer model Mustang. Lieutenant Ganley searched the area and located a clear jar containing more than 160 folds of Heroin and a bag containing what appeared to be approximately 1/2 ounce of powdered Cocaine.
An immediate surveillance was established and within minutes, the vehicle returned with a second vehicle following immediately behind. The male suspect was confronted by Lieutenant Ganley as the suspect attempted to retrieve the narcotics from the wooded area. Lieutenant Ganley and Lacey detectives arrested 37-year-old Luis Quintana of Toms River. Louis Quintana was transported to Lacey Township Police Headquarters, processed, and charged with Possession of a Heroin and Cocaine, Intent to Distribute Heroin, and Intent to Distribute Cocaine. The investigation revealed that although Luis Quintana was from Toms River, NJ, he recently had been staying at the Lacey Inn on Route 9 in Forked River. Luis Quintana was lodged in the Ocean County Correctional Facility in default of $75,000 bail.
A male passenger, 31-year-old Robert Sammis of Bayville, NJ, who was in the second vehicle, was arrested at the scene and charged with Loitering or Wandering to Obtain a Controlled Dangerous Substance after officers discovered that he was at the location specifically to purchase Heroin from Quintana. Sammis also had an outstanding no-bail warrant for a violation of the Intensive Supervision Program (ISP) as a condition of Parole. Robert Sammis was transported to the Ocean County Correctional Facility with no bail option.
The drugs seized consisted of 162 folds containing Heroin and approximately ½ ounce of Cocaine. The combined street value of the CDS is estimated at $2,500.