TOMS RIVER — A Monmouth County man was arrested following a two-month investigation into cocaine distribution in Ocean County, authorities said.
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said detectives from the county prosecutor’s Narcotics Strike Force worked with the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Gang Task Force during the investigation, which identified Harry Clayton, 45, of Ocean Township in Monmouth County, as a suspected cocaine distributor operating in Ocean County.
Investigators conducting mobile surveillance on March 12 watched Clayton at a home in Neptune City before he drove away, according to prosecutors. A short time later, Monmouth County detectives pulled over the vehicle he was driving.
Authorities said Clayton tried to conceal items in his pants as officers ordered him out of the vehicle and resisted attempts to secure them. He was taken into custody without further incident and brought to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.
A court-approved search of Clayton’s vehicle turned up heroin, a Smith & Wesson .380-caliber handgun, hollow-point bullets and $1,800 in cash, prosecutors said. Detectives also recovered about 24 grams of crack cocaine from Clayton’s person.
Clayton faces charges including possession of more than one-half ounce of cocaine with intent to distribute, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school, simple possession of cocaine and heroin, weapons offenses, evidence tampering and obstruction.
He was lodged in the Ocean County Jail and later released under New Jersey’s bail reform law, authorities said.
Billhimer praised the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Strike Force, the office’s Asset Forfeiture Unit and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Gang Task Force for their work on the case.
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