Attorney General Addresses Camden Violence [AUDIO]

NEW JERSEY 101.5

This week's takedown of a violent and long-running narcotics distribution network in Camden serves as an unpleasant reminder that New Jersey is home to one of the most dangerous cities in the United States.

Thursday's announcement of Operation North Pole included first-degree racketeering charges for 47 individuals, as well as the seizure of multiple firearms. Officials said the heroin and cocaine network, allegedly led by three brothers, had ties to Mexican drug cartels.

"Through operations such as this one, we are working to take drug dealers off the streets and reduce the paralytic violence plaguing the streets of Camden," said Acting Attorney General John Hoffman. "We know the devastating impact that crime has on cities like Camden."

Hoffman asserted that law enforcement can't stop its war against drugs until there's a stop to the "cycle of violence that is luring Camden's young people with the false glamour of a gangster's life - a life that inevitably leads to far too many maimed or killed."

"We cannot and we will not stop until parents can sit on their stoops and send their children to school, or to a neighbor's house to play, without worrying about hearing gunfire," Hoffman added.

Camden residents have not been the only ones contributing to the ongoing cycle of drugs, violence and death. Authorities have acknowledged the fact that the city is easily accessible through mass transit, from other spots in New Jersey and from other states.

The leaders of the recently-busted drug ring, for years, used intimidation and violence to exercise their control , according to authorities.