Seven people were arrested and charged for their involvement in one alleged drug ring on social media at Rutgers University, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office in New Jersey.
On Thursday, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone said the result of an extensive narcotics investigation, Operation RU Pharm, yielded seven arrests.
The investigation lasted for several months, according to Ciccone, and revealed a closed and private social media network by students from Rutgers University to buy and sell narcotics.
The sting operation revealed that a Rutgers alumnus had set up a private social media network that allowed “narcotics distributors to post menus for drugs and solicit buyers from within the Rutgers University community.”
An investigation into a drug ring allegedly involving Rutgers students was conducted over several months. (Rutgers University)
Rutgers students who had built a relationship with the school were allowed to join the network, browse its “menus” and contact distributors to negotiate drug purchases.
Detectives also seized property a large amount of marijuana, LSD, cocaine, psilocybin mushrooms, Adderall, Xanax, a large amount of American money and a gun.
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Former Rutgers student Anudeep Revuri, 23, was charged with being a first-degree leader of a drug trafficking network.
Joshua Duffy, 20, Zachary Petersen, 22, Catherine Tierney, 23, David Nudelman, 20, Donovin Williams, 22, and Noa Lisimachio, 21, were all charged with at least one count of distribution of a controlled dangerous substance.
Ciccone said the investigation remains active and anyone with information is asked to contact the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Task Force at 732-745-3300.
Operation RU Pharm resulted in seven arrests. (Rutgers University Police Department)
In 2020, another major drug smuggling ring involving a college campus was busted after fraternity members and students from the University of North Carolina and Duke University were caught funneling drugs to three college campuses.
Federal law enforcement agents recently charged 21 people in the scheme following an investigation that began in November 2018.
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Investigators say they seized a large quantity of drugs. (Google)
The illegal drug activity involved members of chapters of the Phi Gamma Delta, Kappa Sigma and Beta Theta Pi fraternities at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between 2017 and spring 2020, court documents show.
The drug ring funneled more than half a ton of marijuana, several hundred pounds of cocaine and significant amounts of other drugs to UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke University and Appalachian State University, prosecutors said.
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Prosecutors said the total amount of money made through the human trafficking scheme was more than $1.5 million.
Rutgers did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Story tips and ideas can be sent to [email protected]
