Seven people have been arrested and charged in connection with an alleged social media drug ring at Rutgers University, authorities announced this week.
The sweeping undercover narcotics operation, known as “Operation RU Pharm,” uncovered a “closed and private social media network utilized by Rutgers University students to sell and purchase” drugs, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone said in a statement Thursday.
Authorities seized a large amount of marijuana, LSD, cocaine, psilocybin mushrooms, Adderall, Xanax, “a large amount of U.S. currency,” and a firearm, according to a news release from Ciccone’s office.
The sting operation found that an alumnus of Rutgers created a private social media network where “narcotics distributors could post menus for drugs and solicit buyers from within the Rutgers University community.”
Rutgers students who established their affiliation with the school were allowed to join the network, browse the “menus,” and contact distributors to negotiate drug purchases.
Officials charged Anudeep Revuri, a 23-year-old from North Brunswick, with one count of first-degree leader of a drug trafficking network; two counts of second-degree conspiracy to commit drug distribution; and one count of third-degree conspiracy to commit drug distribution. Revuri’s profile on LinkedIn shows he graduated from the university in 2022.
Six other people — Joshua Duffy, 20; Zachary Petersen, 22; Catherine Tierney, 23; David Nudelman, 20; Donovin Williams, 20; and Noa Lisimachio, 21 — were charged with various degrees of possession and distribution of controlled substances.
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Rutgers spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.
Ciccone, the Middlesex County prosecutor, said the investigation is “active and continuing.” She encouraged anyone with information about the case to contact her office’s narcotics task force. She added that the charges against all seven people were “merely accusations, and they are presumed innocent until proven guilty.”
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