WILMINGTON, DE — A multi-agency investigation targeting a drug trafficking operation in Delaware and Maryland ended this week with the arrest of three Delaware men and the seizure of large quantities of narcotics, cash, and a firearm.
Detectives with the Delaware State Police, working in coordination with the Cecil County (Maryland) Drug Task Force, arrested Aaron Nickerson, 34, of Wilmington; Khalil Rodriguez-Fitzgerald, 30, of New Castle; and Malcolm Moore, 33, of Claymont on August 6 following a months-long probe into a drug trafficking organization distributing cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, and marijuana throughout New Castle County and nearby Cecil County.
The three suspects were stopped by Delaware State Police Special Operations Response Team officers in a rental vehicle driven by Nickerson in Wilmington. A search of the vehicle turned up approximately 140 grams of crack cocaine, 4.3 pounds of marijuana, and more than $11,000 in suspected drug proceeds.
Subsequent search warrants were executed at locations in New Castle County, where police found an additional 323 grams of cocaine, 108 grams of crack cocaine, nearly 1,800 grams of phenacetin (a cutting agent), 24 grams of marijuana, one handgun, ammunition, over $21,000 in suspected drug money, and various items used in drug distribution. Two children were present during the execution of one of the search warrants.
Nickerson, a convicted felon prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition, was charged and arraigned at Justice of the Peace Court 11. He is being held at Howard R. Young Correctional Institution on $178,500 cash bond.
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Key Points
- Three men were arrested in Wilmington after a joint Delaware-Maryland drug investigation concluded
- Police seized cocaine, crack, marijuana, cutting agents, a firearm, and over $32,000 in suspected drug proceeds
- A convicted felon among the suspects was found with ammunition and a gun in a home with children present