“OPERATION PAINKILLER”

On July 27, 2006, officers from the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, the Hanover, East Hanover and Florham Park Police Departments ended a several month long narcotic investigation that was dubbed “Operation Painkiller.”

During "Operation Painkiller," some 244 officers from 31 agencies at 6:30 a.m. simultaneously executed search and arrest warrants at locations in Morris -- many in the communities of Hanover, East Hanover and Florham Park --as well as in Essex and Union counties. Adults ranging from 18 to 25 years old, as well as some juveniles were arrested. In addition police confiscated an array of drugs, cash and as many as 35 cars.

The investigation was dubbed "Operation Painkiller" because many of the suspects dealt in OxyContin and other prescription drugs, although many of the charges also involved heroin.

In late winter, a Whippany Park graduate tried to deliver OxyContin to a student at the high school. The woman dropped off a lunch bag at the school's central office and a secretary found pills in a film canister. The secretary then reported the incident to the police.

Evan Rokoszak of Hanover, a Whippany Park High School 18-yearold senior was arrested and charged as a drug kingpin during the early morning raids that snared 53 others and focused on shutting down a painkiller distribution operation that authorities say catered to high-school students and recent graduates. Rokoszak was held on $300,000 bail on charges of being the leader of a drug trafficking network and employing a 17-year-old juvenile in a drug distribution scheme. Rokoszak is accused of using the 17-yearold Whippany Park High School student as an employee to distribute painkillers, Oxycodone and Percocet, to many of those arrested in the raids. The 45-year-old supplier of the painkillers, an Essex County resident, the oldest person arrested.

The arrests took place a month and a half after the arrest of 18-year-old Florham Park resident Gary Einloth Jr., who is charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine, marijuana and the prescription drug Xanax. The Hanover Park High School senior, called the "main dealer"of narcotics to area high school students, was picked up at the Jersey Shore, where he traveled after dancing at his high school prom.

Morris County Prosecutor Rubbinaccio called "Operation Painkiller" an endeavor "to save lives by dismantling a drug distribution network which involved and targeted our youth."

The NJNEOA once again congratulates the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Task Force, as well as the other participating police agencies, on an outstanding narcotics investigation.