A "substantial heroin dealer" in the Atlantic City-Pleasantville area allegedly had guns and more than $140,000 worth of drugs in his shed, Attorney General Christopher Porrino announced.
Terrance Harris, 37, of Pleasantville, was arrested Friday during a car stop that was the result of a long-term investigation by the Atlantic City Task Force.
Harris had a small amount of heroin in the vehicle, which a Pleasantville K-9 dog alerted officers about, according to the report.
But it was what was inside a small shed in the backyard of his North Second Street home that garnered him first-degree narcotics charges.
There were two guns, Porrino said. One was a Springfield Armory XD Subcompact 9mm semiautomatic pistol that was reported stolen, and the other was a .223-caliber rifle with a laser sight.
There was also more than a kilogram of heroin including some packaged in about 7,900 wax folds stamped with a half-dozen different stamps, according to the charges. A kilogram of cocaine, suspected powder-cutting agents, mixing utensils, scales and $7,465 in cash were also recovered.
"Instead of storing yard equipment in his shed, Terrance Harris harbored heroin, cocaine and weapons, all agents of misery and death," said Col. Rick Fuentes, State Police superintendent.
The Atlantic City Task Force, which combines municipal, county, state and federal agencies, was created to target criminals like Harris, Division of Criminal Justice Director Elie Honig
"The quantity of heroin seized in this bust — together with the number of brand stamps found and the presence of cutting agents and processing equipment — all point to the fact that Harris was a significant distributor of heroin in the Atlantic City area," Porrino said. "Add in the deadly guns, and we allege that Harris was a dangerous purveyor of addiction and drug-related violence who, fortunately, is now off the streets."
Harris has a criminal history dating to at least 2003, when he served prison time for various crimes, including resisting arrest and violating public policy, state Department of Corrections records show.
He was paroled in that case, but went back after a violation, and completed the sentence in December of 2009, according to the DOC.
Harris was sentenced to six years in prison in a 2012 drug case, and was paroled in December of 2015.
The first-degree drug charges carry a possible prison term of 10 to 20 years.
