Police Seize 762 Heroin Doses, Pills, Loaded Gun; Arrest Two

Ansel Applewhite and Eugene Ayala Jr. (Photos: TRPD)

Police in Toms River conducted surveillance on a Route 37 business they believed was being used to facilitate drug activity last week, an operation that resulted in the arrest of two local men and the seizure of heroin, pills and a gun.

On Sept. 30, members of the department’s Special Enforcement Team received information “regarding possible narcotics activity at a business on Route 37,” said police spokesman Ralph Stocco.

As a result of the tip, surveillance was established at 452 Route 37 East, a business known as Certified Funding. During the surveillance operation, officers saw a man, identified as Ansel Applewhite, leave the business and conduct what was believed to be a narcotics transaction on Adams Avenue, Stocco said.

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Upon approaching Applewhite, the officers found him to be in possession of 762 wax folds of heroin, 8 alprazolam (Xanax) pills and $2,248 in cash, Stocco said. An associate of Applewhite’s, Eugene Ayala Jr., was left behind at the business and was found to be in possession of a loaded .38 caliber handgun along with 20 wax folds of heroin, said Stocco.

Applewhite, 23 of Hopes Crossing in Toms River, was charged with possession of heroin, possession of heroin over one half ounce with the intent to distribute and possession of alprazolam. His bail was set at $150,000 cash.

Ayala, 20 of Halliard Avenue in Beachwood, was charged with possession of heroin, possession of heroin with the intent to distribute, and possession of firearm while committing a drug offense. Bail was set at $100,000 cash.