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That is, until local, state and federal law-enforcement agencies pulled the plug on the operation last year.
Yesterday, 15 members of the violent street gang, which authorities say had ties to Philadelphia and was a division of the Bloods, were indicted on racketeering charges by a New Jersey grand jury.
Four of the men, including a "godfather" in the Bloods and a 25-year-old Philadelphia man, also were charged in murder plots.
"The Nine Trey Headbustas used violence and intimidation to control their turf in Camden," New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram said in a statement. "They turned the Broadway Avenue business district into their own marketplace to dispense heroin and fear."
The gang's leader, Michael "Red Eyes" Anderson, 35, "holds the title of 'Original Original Gangster' or 'Godfather' of this faction of the Bloods and allegedly exercised leadership authority from prison," according to the attorney general's Web site. Authorities say Anderson was the gang's leader, despite being incarcerated in New Jersey State Prison since 1992 on numerous charges.
Juan Vargas, 25, of Philadelphia, also known as "Juanito" or "Big Bro," led the day-to-day operations of the gang's drug division, authorities said. Both men, along with Dionicio "Do" Adams, of Camden, were charged with conspiracy to commit murder in connection with an alleged plot to kill a man in November 2007.
Adams and Nathaniel Clay, 30, also of Camden, were charged with conspiracy to commit murder in connection with an unrelated plot in October 2007. Details of the alleged murder plots were not released.
When authorities arrested Vargas, Adams and Clay on Nov. 29, they seized 500 bags of heroin, three pounds of marijuana, two-and-a-half ounces of crack cocaine, two handguns and about $10,000 in cash. Most of the drugs was sold on Stevens Street and on Benson Street, in Camden's Broadway business district.
Of the 15 people indicted yesterday, eight were indicted on charges of first-degree racketeering. Two juveniles, both 17, were arrested in January, waived to adult status and pleaded guilty to 2nd-degree racketeering. Each was sentenced to five years in state prison.
Milgram, Gov. Jon S. Corzine and other state officials have made fighting crime in Camden a priority over the last year. The city is one of the most dangerous and poorest in the country and has seen a spike in gang activity, authorities said.
"Targeting the command structure of gangs, as we have done in this case, is the most effective way to shut down the drug dealing and violence that is their stock in trade," said Deborah Gramiccioni, the state's acting criminal-justice director.
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