A Spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutor Said a Smidgen Of Marijuana Was Found in a Napkin.

A city already rocked by drug overdoses, reverse stings and drug-ring busts yesterday was grappling with the news that a 4-year-old boy had brought a small amount of marijuana to a Head Start center.

The drugs were found Thursday morning when the child motioned to get a teacher's attention at a Head Start facility at Broadway and Pine Street, said Bill Shralow, a spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.

[continues 181 words]

Killer heroin claimed another life yesterday in Camden.

The fatal overdose was at least the 12th in Philadelphia, South Jersey and Delaware in two weeks.

It was one of five overdoses reported in Camden from heroin that authorities believe was mixed with fentanyl, a powerful surgical analgesic.

The 23-year-old Gibbstown woman was found about 12:30 p.m in the 600 block of State Street in North Camden in the back of a vacant, fire- damaged building, Camden Police Capt. Joseph Richardson said. The victim, whose name was not released, was pronounced dead at 1:45 p.m.

[continues 490 words]

Camden last night became the second city in New Jersey to defy state law enforcement officials by adopting a plan to provide clean syringes to intravenous drug users.

City Council passed the needle-exchange ordinance, 4-0, a week after Atlantic City approved a similar program. On Wednesday, Atlantic County Prosecutor Jeffrey Blitz filed suit to challenge Atlantic City's program.

Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi said he would review the Camden ordinance before deciding whether to take legal action.

[continues 448 words]

Federal, State And Local Police Fanned Out In A High-Visibility Patrol. It Also Marked The County Prosecutor's Farewell.

CAMDEN - It was Camden's version of Operation Safe Streets.

And it was also a last hurrah for Camden County Prosecutor Lee A. Solomon, who will leave office next week to join the U.S. Attorney's Office, and who had helped to organize many such operations before.

Almost 250 state, federal and local police massed along the Camden's waterfront yesterday in the first "high visibility patrol" involving state police since Gov. McGreevey assigned 100 troopers to the city last month.

[continues 432 words]

Saul "Gordo" Febo Said A Contractor Gave The Van. He Said It Was Titled To Then Councilman Milton Milan'S Girlfriend.

CAMDEN - Convicted drug lord Saul "Gordo" Febo testified yesterday that Camden Mayor Milton Milan conspired with him and a city contractor in 1996 to conceal the source of a van being given to Milan free of charge.

Febo, who ran Camden's largest open-air cocaine market until his arrest in 1998, told the jury in the mayor's federal corruption trial that when Milan was a city councilman in late 1996, he wanted a gratis 1990 Chevrolet Lumina from Domenic "Shorty" Monaco, who was bidding on the city's towing contract.

[continues 1066 words]

Drug Policy And Loans Divide Council Candidates Michael P. Mcguire And Frank Fulbrook.

CAMDEN -- As the city approaches Tuesday's nonpartisan Council election, one race in particular has turned ugly: the First Ward contest, pitting Frank Fulbrook against Michael P. McGuire. The two, in a slugfest of accusations, are competing for the seat held by Michael H. Devlin, who is not running again.

It is one of four four-year terms, which pay $13,700 a year, that have drawn a field of 10 candidates. Fulbrook fired the opening shot by trotting out a senior citizen who accused McGuire, a Camden County housing inspector, of driving the senior into poverty by failing to repay a $60,000 loan. A 1997 Camden County Superior Court judgment found McGuire in default, but did not specify when the money was to be repaid.

[continues 342 words]

Alba Restrepo's Plea Followed Her Husband's. The Cocaine Ring Was Called The City's Largest.

Her husband pleaded guilty on Friday, and yesterday a frightened-looking Alba Restrepo confessed in court to helping a violent drug ring distribute millions of dollars of cocaine in Camden in the last decade.

The petite Restrepo, 35, her dark hair pulled back into a loose ponytail above an orange prison jumpsuit and manacles, admitted through an interpreter that she conspired to help distribute between 50 and 150 kilograms of cocaine in Camden with the assistance of her husband, Eduardo "Quattro" Vargas, and a relative.

[continues 192 words]

Another member of Camden's largest drug ring pleaded guilty to conspiracy yesterday and admitted his role in an organization that authorities say brought millions of dollars worth of cocaine into the city during the last decade.

Eduardo "Quattro" Vargas, 31, of Queens, N.Y., pleaded guilty during an afternoon hearing before U.S. District Judge Joseph Rodriguez to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin T. Smith said Vargas admitted in court to participating in the distribution of more than 150 kilograms of cocaine in Camden. Smith said that Vargas sold the drug to codefendants Saul Febo and Luis "Tun Tun" Figueroa, assisted by other associates Noel Ruiz, Eduardo Negroni and Alba Restrepo.

[continues 245 words]