Thirty-one people have been charged following an eight-month investigation into a drug trafficking ring that operated inside the Camden County Correctional Facility and beyond, authorities announced Wednesday.

The investigation, dubbed "Operation Paper Trail," began in October 2025 and was led by the Camden County Prosecutor's Office High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, including members assigned to the county jail. During the investigation, detectives seized more than 7 ounces of fentanyl, 12.9 ounces of the synthetic cannabinoid, 3.6 ounces of the drug mixed with fentanyl, more than 1.6 ounces of PCP and 1.1 ounces of cocaine from inmates and outside suppliers.

Investigators identified Howard Dunns, 50, of Millville, as one of the alleged leaders of the operation. Prosecutors said Dunns, who was already incarcerated in the Cumberland County Correctional Facility, worked with an associate and inmates Wilfredo Santiago, 31, of Vineland, and Kyle Jones, 31, of Millville, to smuggle drug-laced papers into the jail disguised as legal correspondence for distribution to inmates.

Authorities said correctional officers intercepted multiple mailings during the investigation. In March, two letters intended for Santiago and Jones tested positive for the synthetic cannabinoid. Another fake legal mailing traced to Damunaquan "Damu" Miller, 32, of Camden, tested positive for cocaine. Prosecutors also alleged that after Miller was jailed, he directed associate Madison Colon-Walsh, 22, of Camden, to send PCP concealed in false legal mail to inmate Rasheem Brown, 39.

In addition to Dunns, Santiago, Jones, Miller, Colon-Walsh, Brown and inmate Billy Corbitt, 21, of Camden, prosecutors said 24 other people were charged with narcotics offenses, primarily conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled dangerous substances and drug possession.

"Through the dedicated collaboration between our HIDTA Task Force and the Camden County Correctional Facility, a complex and potentially far-reaching criminal enterprise affecting inmates and our local Camden County community was dismantled," Camden County Prosecutor Grace C. MacAulay said in a statement.