NJ shuts luxury apartment heroin mill tied to 227 overdoses, 84 deaths

A fentanyl and heroin mill that investigators say is responsible for 227 overdoses, including 84 deaths in New Jersey, has been shut down with the arrest of its accused mastermind.

The New Jersey State Police Opioid Enforcement Task Force and the Division of Criminal Justice seized 32,500 individual doses and four kilos of fentanyl and heroin inside a luxury apartment on Somerset Avenue in Harrison.

All of the 227 overdoses were linked to wax folds stamped with brand names such "Tom Brady," "Nyquil," "NJ Bad News," "El Chapo," "Tango Cash" and "Fat Albert."

Timothy Guest, 45, of Irvington, is accused of operating the mill with associates  William Woodley, 27, of Belleville, and Selionel Orama, 25, of Cedar Grove. The men were arrested on March 14 and face first- and second-degree drug charges, including a charge of maintaining a narcotics production facility.

Based on the evidence seized, Attorney General Gurbir Grewal on Thursday said said it is estimated that the drug mill was supplying 15,000 daily doses of fentanyl and heroin.

Grewal credited the takedown with saving lives by preventing "countless doses of fentanyl and heroin from reaching drug users."

The arrests came after Guest was seen getting into a Cadillac XTS with 150 bricks of fentanyl, each of which contained 50 doses of narcotics. Guest hit two trooper cars in an attempt to leave the area but the Cadillac was disabled. Woodley and Orama tried to escape on foot and were arrested.

Inside the mill, investigators found 29 coffee grinders, kilo presses, wax folds, and respirator masks. They also found 43 rubber ink stamps used to stamp brands on the wax folds.

Police said they also found a location in Secaucus used by Guest as a “stash house” for drug proceeds. They seized approximately $200,000 in cash, a Bentley convertible worth an estimated $400,000, and a Range Rover worth an estimated $130,000 from Secaucus location, officials said.

“This operation reflects a proactive and collaborative strategy in which we recently deployed a new State Police task force, supported by a $2.8 million federal COPS grant, to target drug mills and other major drug sources as choke points in the supply line of these deadly opioids," Grewal said. "This case is an early and tremendous victory for the Opioid Enforcement Task Force and our new strategy."

David Matthau contributed to this report.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

More from New Jersey 101.5