‘Operation Cocaine Goldmine’ nets 35 arrests, busts 3 major drug rings in Norristown, DA says
Five major cocaine suppliers and dealers were arrested in Norristown this month as part of an operation to dismantle drug rings in the city, prosecutors said.
As the price of cocaine plummeted this spring, prosecutors say, drug dealers in Montgomery County took advantage of that savings, bought in bulk, and flooded the streets of Norristown with the potent narcotic.
Jerome Berry, 32, described in court documents as a cocaine supplier and crack cook working out of an apartment on DeKalb Street, bragged on the phone to a fellow dealer that the city was a “[expletive] goldmine” for the narcotics, according to a transcript of the phone call, which was intercepted by police.
Berry bemoaned that younger dealers were ignoring the potential the reduced prices presented to make them huge profits and drawing undue attention to themselves with gang-fueled shootings.
That violence, combined with hours of surveillance, wiretaps, and controlled drug buys, allowed local, state, and federal investigators to successfully dismantle three major drug distribution rings in “Operation Cocaine Goldmine,” District Attorney Kevin Steele said in an interview.
Five people described as high-level suppliers and organizers for those rings were arrested and charged with racketeering, conspiracy, and drug offenses: Berry, Terrell Bailey, 50, and Oscar Gordon, 37, of Norristown; Donta Wells, 40, of Eagleville; and Malik Noel, 49, of North Philadelphia.
Their arrests also netted seven pounds of cocaine, more than $138,000 and 17 guns, according to Steele.
“They were blatant about what they were doing, and now they’re going to pay significant prices for that behavior,” the district attorney said.
“And if there’s anybody that thinks they’re going to come in and fill the void, they better be aware that we’re not taking our foot off the pedal,” he added. “We’ll continue to investigate and continue to arrest people involved in drug trafficking in Montgomery County.”
All five remained in custody, unable to post bail.
Attorneys for Bailey, Gordon, and Wells did not respond to requests for comment, and Noel’s attorney, Marni Jo Snyder, declined to comment. It was unclear if Berry had hired an attorney.
An additional 31 members of the rings, including street-level dealers and occasional drug mules, have also been identified and charged with similar crimes, Steele said.
The operation began in late 2024, after authorities received tips from confidential sources about the major players in each drug ring.
Arrest warrants were served last month as part of what Steele described as “a concerted effort to rid Norristown of this criminal element that will not be tolerated in our county seat.”
Bailey, Gordon, and Watts operated as the de facto leaders of the rings, according to the affidavit of probable cause for their arrests. They directed the supply of the drugs to sub-dealers, and sometimes performed hand-to-hand deals themselves.
Those transactions, carried out by informants and overseen by detectives, ranged from small amounts of cocaine for personal use to larger quantities that investigators said were intended to be broken down and sold separately.
The groups spoke in coded language when placing orders, careful to sell only to people they knew and trusted, prosecutors said. When supply ran low, some members of the group refused to buy from newer suppliers, choosing the harder, safer route as they sought alternate sources of the drugs.
Some of the dealers involved, including Bailey, were wary of being followed by law enforcement and took steps to shake anyone following them, including taking circuitous routes through narrow side streets in Norristown, the affidavit said.
In May, a county sheriff’s deputy served a protection-from-abuse order at a home on Main Street in Norristown where one of the dealers connected to Bailey was preparing and packaging crack, the affidavit said.
The man called another dealer in a panic, asking him to help him stash their equipment in another home, according to the affidavit.
But with the help of informants, and an assist from federal agents, investigators were able to close their net around the drug ring members, Steele said.