Victor Mendoza-Gutierrez and Jose Quintero. (Photos: OCPO)
A pair of Brick and Manchester residents are facing charges connected to a drug distribution investigation that ended with raids by police at homes in both townships this week.
The searches of homes and vehicles came after a three-month long investigation by detectives with the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, said OCPO spokesman Bryan Huntenberg in a statement.
Jose Quintero, 36, of Brick, and Victor Mendoza-Gutierrez, 24, of Manchester, are facing numerous drug and weapons charges. According to a statement from the prosecutor’s office, police on Wednesday executed no-knock search warrants at both the Manchester and Brick residences. The addresses of the homes were not listed in the statement.
Just prior to the execution of the search warrants, Brick Township police arrested Quintero following the execution of a motor vehicle stop upon his 2019 Ford F150. Mendoza-Gutierrez was apprehended at the Manchester residence. As a result of the investigation and execution of the search warrants, law enforcement located 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, the statement said.
Both men were charged with possession of more than five ounces of cocaine with intent to distribute, maintaining a controlled dangerous substance production facility, possession of a firearm while committing a drug offense, maintaining a fortified manufacturing facility, two counts of simple cocaine possession, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
“Additional charges may be forthcoming as the investigation continues,” Huntenberg said.
Quintero is currently lodged in the Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing. Mendoza-Gutierrez was processed at Manchester Township Police Headquarters and released pending a future court appearance.
Units involved in the investigation and searches included: 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 .
