Heroin, Handguns, Assault Rifle Seized in Neptune

Two drug suspects paid a combined $435,000 full bail for the privilege of waiting on the outside for court proceedings, following a search and arrests in Neptune Township.

Khalis Aziz, 25, and Joel Jones, 30, were found with some 600 doses of heroin, 20 grams of cocaine, marijuana, Xanax, oxycodone, a .40-caliber handgun, a defaced 9-mm handgun and an AR-15-type assault rifle, and hollow point ammo, authorities said.

Charges against Aziz and Jones were announced Monday by acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Chris Grammiccioni.

Officials say that surveillance and investigations continued for about a month before a search warrant was executed at the house on Ash Drive and arrests were completed April 28.

The most serious of the nine charges they face are second-degree counts of possession of a weapon while committing narcotics offenses and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, according to a spokesman for Grammiccioni's office. Aziz faces an additional second-degree charge of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.

Each second-degree charge carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years on conviction. The rest are third-degree charges with possible prison terms of up to five years apiece.