DEALER TIES INVESTIGATOR TO DRUG RING

Kenneth waller said he was tipped by a friend with a cousin
in the Prosecutor's Office. It was unclear whether the
investigator knew.

A convicted drug dealer testified in a federal conspiracy trial
yesterday that a friend, with ties to the Camden County Prosecutor's
Office, tipped him off before a drug raid and his arrest for his role
in a multimillion-dollar drug operation.

Kenneth "Blockhead" Waller said his friend Alfred "Curly" Kee is a
first cousin to Jerome Kee, a narcotics investigator for the
Prosecutor's Office. Waller said Alfred Kee had told him where law
enforcement authorities placed surveillance cameras while
investigating the East Camden drug operation, whose members killed
those who betrayed them. It was unclear whether Jerome Kee was aware
that information had been given to Waller.

Waller, a top dealer for the drug ring, was among 14 indicted in 1998
for their part in the drug operation. All but two of those charged
have pleaded guilty to drug-conspiracy charges and are awaiting sentencing.

Waller, 33, is among them and has been cooperating with the
government. Yesterday, he took the witness stand for the second day in
U.S. District Court in Camden in the trial of Jose Luis "J.R." Rivera,
40, and Luis "Tun Tun" Figueroa, 34, both accused of operating the
drug ring. If convicted, the two men, who have denied the charges,
could face life in prison.

Waller, who was a starter on Camden High School's football team in the
mid-1980s, testified that Alfred Kee told him in April 1997 that he
was being watched and was "going to be hit" at the beginning of the
month.

On June 2, 1997, state, county and federal authorities descended on
Waller, confiscating his fancy cars, searching numerous properties he
owned in Camden County, and freezing his bank accounts, he said.

But there was no money in the accounts and no drugs at the properties,
including his Langham Street home, which had been recently restored
with three hot tubs, marble floors and chandeliers, Waller said. He
knew, through Alfred Kee, that investigators would be coming.

Jerome Kee, who still works in the Prosecutor's Office, could not be
reached for comment. Efforts to reach Alfred Kee for comment were also
unsuccessful.

Under questioning by Rivera's attorney, Marc Neff, Waller said that he
knew where the surveillance equipment was and that Alfred Kee was
getting his information from his cousin, who has been with the
Prosecutor's Office since August 1993.

When asked if he paid for the information, Waller did not specify
whether he had compensated Kee.

Camden County Prosecutor Lee A. Solomon said yesterday that he was
aware Waller's allegations concerning Jerome Kee.

"My office has conducted an investigation into the charge, but because
of the pending trial, it would be inappropriate for me to comment
further at this time," Solomon said.

On Tuesday, under questioning by prosecutor Sally Smith, Waller said
he was sure police knew he was a drug dealer because he drove new cars
and was "flashy and flamboyant."

The police, he testified, often spent time at Rivera's business, JR's
Custom Auto Parts, in East Camden. They would drink coffee, eat
doughnuts and hang around, he said. Waller said he tried to stay away
from them because he did not want to get caught in a
"shakedown."

Earlier in the trial, which is in its fifth week, another convicted
drug dealer, Lucas Torres, said he paid an officer with the county
narcotics task force, who is now dead, to ease up on raiding dealers
who worked for him. Torres operated an open-air drug market at 33d
Street that was part of the drug ring.

Waller was among the city's top suppliers of cocaine to various areas,
including "The Alley" at Bank and Boyd Streets, another open-air market.

Using meticulous details, Waller described yesterday how he purchased
kilos of cocaine that he melted in a pot to burn off any impurities.
Then, he said, he added his own compound, such as vitamin B or
laxatives, to add more weight. He repackaged the kilo in the form of a
brick and often wrapped it in a Spanish newspaper, sprinkled with
coffee, to make it appear the kilo had just arrived from Colombia, he
said.

"Fool your friends," Waller said of selling the drugs to others,
causing several jurors to smile.

Waller said he had dealt drugs and had repeatedly been in and out of
jail from the early 1990s until he was charged in 1997 under the state
kingpin statute, which could have put him in prison for life.

After that arrest, Waller said, he realized he was in serious trouble.
He was later was indicted in U.S. District Court, where the penalties
for drug dealing are even more severe. So, he said, he agreed to
cooperate with authorities to get a lighter sentence. The state, he
said, consolidated previous drug charges with his federal case. He
said he hoped the judge would impose a sentence less than 10 years
because he had cooperated.

Waller is among numerous convicted drug dealers called to testify in
the fifth-floor courtroom, where they have painted a shocking and
often brutal picture of the drug trade in Camden.

Manny Cordero, 50, one of the 12 members who have pleaded guilty, took
the stand after Waller and told of the extreme violence used by the
drug ring and his role in transporting hundreds of thousands of
dollars in cash and large quantities of cocaine via commercial
airlines between Camden and Puerto Rico for Figueroa and Saul Febo, a
convicted dealer.

Cordero, who testified about using cocaine while working for the
organization, told of one "mission" in 1993 in which he drove three
other drug dealers, all of them now dead, to Marlton Pike where a
harrowing shoot-out erupted with another drug faction. Two people were
injured, and an innocent bystander killed.

Cordero testified that he had stayed in the car during the
shoot-out.

Among those at the shooting was Manuel "Manolin" DeJesus, whom
Figueroa is charged with murdering. That case will be tried in state
court.

Authorities said that in October 1993, Figueroa, Febo and Wilson
"Chill Will" Torres confronted DeJesus about a plan to take over the
Alley, which Febo and Figueroa allegedly controlled.

Cordero said that he had overheard DeJesus argue with his wife and
that she had told DeJesus he should have killed Saul and Figueroa to
take over the Alley for himself. Cordero said he had told Figueroa
what he heard.

"Tun Tun got angry," Cordero said. "Tun Tun told me something got to
be done about Manolin."

Figueroa's attorney, Carlos A. Martir Jr., pointed out in an interview
afterward that Cordero had not been charged with any of the murders or
the 1993 shoot-out and said that he was not a credible witness.

"He's a crack head. . . . He's not charged with that murder even
though he drove the car. It sounds like conspiracy to commit murder,"
Martir said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Smith said Cordero's actions, including
his part in the shootings, would be considered at sentencing. The
trial resumes today before U.S. District Judge Joseph Rodriguez.