Acting New Jersey Attorney General John Hoffman announced the indictment Monday. It was handed up Friday by a state grand jury.
All 15 defendants are charged with first-degree racketeering and second-degree conspiracy to maintain heroin production facilities and distribute heroin.
The alleged ringleader, 37-year-old Segundo Garcia of Prospect Park, is also charged with leading a narcotics trafficking network. He could face life in prison if convicted.
Authorities say the drug network supplied multiple kilos of heroin per week to other suppliers and large-scale dealers. The ring allegedly distributed heroin to dealers in northern Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.