According to Billhimer, Ocean County detectives, street officers, and a SWAT team conducted no-knock search warrants on two homes in Brick and Manchester on May 13 at approximately 3:30 p.m.

Following a series of police raids last year that netted over a kilogram of cocaine and quantities of several other drugs, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars, a Brick Township man and his co-defendant, a Manchester resident, pled guilty Wednesday to charges of maintaining a drug production facility.

Before Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan, Jose Quintero-DeJesus, 37, of Brick Township, and Victor Mendoza-Gutierrez, 26, of Manchester, both entered guilty pleas. When they are sentenced in December, the state will seek an eight-year prison sentence for the two.

Brick Township police detained Quintero after a motor vehicle stop on his 2019 Ford F150 just before the execution of three search warrants in May 2020. Mendoza-Gutierrez was seized at his home in Manchester. According to the statement, law enforcement discovered and seized multiple loaded firearms, approximately 1,050 grams of cocaine, 20 grams of methamphetamine, a quantity of marijuana, drug paraphernalia "indicative of distribution purposes," a high-end security system, and approximately $30,000 in cash as a result of the investigation and execution of the search warrants.

Police discovered loaded pistols, $30,000 in cash, and more than two pounds of cocaine during the raids on both locations, according to authorities. In addition to 20 grams of methamphetamine, marijuana, drug selling paraphernalia, and a high-end security system, the bust yielded 20 grams of methamphetamine, marijuana, drug dealing paraphernalia, and a high-end security system. Billhimer claimed Quintero-DeJesus was caught shortly before the raids during a traffic stop in Brick in his Ford F-150. Mendoza-Gutierrez was seized at his home in Manchester.

It took three months to conduct the investigation that led to the men's arrests.

Prosecutor Billhimer acknowledges the diligent efforts of Assistant Prosecutor Stephen Burke who is handling the case on behalf of the State, as well as the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Strike Force, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Asset Forfeiture Unit, Ocean County Regional SWAT Team, Northern Ocean County/Monmouth Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force (HIDTA), Manchester Township Police Department Narcotics Enforcement Team, Brick Township Police Department Street Crimes Unit, Brick Township Police Department K-9 Unit, Brick Township Police Department SERT, Lakewood Police Department Street Crimes Unit, and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit, for their collaborative efforts in connection with this investigation resulting in Quintero’s and Mendoza-Gutierrez’s guilty pleas, and soon their state prison sentences.