Ex-Camden drug dealer continues testimony

Raymond Morales calmly described for a jury yesterday how he handled those who posed a threat to his now-defunct cocaine empire - he ordered them dead.

Morales, for a second day, was on the stand in U.S. District Court in Camden, testifying against Juan Rivera-Velez.

Prosecutors say Rivera-Velez, as the top enforcer for Morales, killed a rival drug dealer and tried to kill another man to cover up the murder.

Morales has admitted his part in six murders and yesterday continued describing how the slayings were simply a means to protect his multimillion-dollar business, which moved hundreds of kilos of cocaine through the city from 1992 until 2004.

Morales was arrested in 2003 and began cooperating with the government, which has led to 23 convictions. His testimony has offered a rare look into the drug culture that thrives in Camden.

The extreme violence concerned at least one juror, who sent a question yesterday to the judge about safety. The judge returned word that the panel would be escorted by security to the jury parking lot each day.

Yesterday, Morales testified that in 1996, he told rival drug dealer Miguel Batista to stop selling cocaine on the drug corner where Morales had his dealers moving drugs. Unable to resolve the situation, Morales said he turned to Rivera-Velez, his "gunslinger," for help.

Morales and Rivera-Velez lured Batista from a bar, offering to sell him prescription drugs. Instead, Rivera-Velez fatally shot Batista in the head, Morales said.

Later, Morales said, he told his associate, Rafael Colon-Rodriguez, to dispose of the bloody clothes and murder weapon while he and Rivera-Velez returned to the bar.

As an ambulance rushed past the bar to the murder scene, Morales said, he and Rivera-Velez stepped outside, where they poured their drinks and shots on the ground as a tribute to the dead.

The matter, however, was not over. Years later, Colon-Rodriguez was arrested and demanded bail money, Morales said. Colon-Rodriguez warned, "I know things," which Morales said meant he was threatening to tell police about the Batista murder, if needed.

In 2003, when Morales was arrested, he testified, he told Rivera-Velez to kill Colon-Rodriguez to eliminate the threat.

"He understood the severity of the problem," Morales said.

Rivera-Velez faces drug and murder conspiracy charges in the Batista and Colon-Rodriguez shootings. The trial resumes today before U.S. District Judge Joseph E. Irenas.