Police arrested five people after conducting drug raids in the Central Ward of Newark, New Jersey.
The Essex County Sheriff’s Office Bureau of Narcotics and the federal DEA conducted a joint investigation into drug distribution in Newark, NJ. The investigation was prompted by a number of citizen complaints about drug dealing in the Central Ward.
Both state and federal agencies executed search warrants at two apartments in the Wynona Lipman Gardens complex, which is located on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Newark, NJ.
After serving a search warrant at one apartment, police heard the apartment occupants begin to alert each other to the police presence. As a result, police forced their way into the apartment.
Once inside the residence, police reportedly discovered 41 grams of crack cocaine and 67 glassine envelopes of heroin. Police also reportedly found drug packaging and processing materials hidden in a closet.
Police officers arrested two people who were inside the apartment: a 52-year-old woman and a 49-year-old man. When police searched the male suspect, they allegedly found eight envelopes of heroin. The envelopes were reportedly stamped in red ink with the label “American Sniper.”
The two suspects were charged with cocaine possession, heroin possession, and various drug distribution offenses.
DEA agents and Essex County sheriff’s officers also served a search warrant at another apartment inside the complex.
According to police, the officers were confronted by a 27-year-old woman who tried to prevent them from entering the residence.
Once police got inside the apartment, they allegedly found 40 plastic bags filled with marijuana, as well as drug processing paraphernalia.
Three people at the apartment were arrested and charged with marijuana possession and marijuana distribution. Additionally, one of the suspects was charged with resisting arrest and obstruction of justice.
After being arrested and charged, all of the suspects were arraigned in Essex County Superior Court. They are currently being held at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark, New Jersey.
For more information about this case, read the NJ.com article entitled “5 Arrested After Newark Homes Raided by DEA, Essex Sheriff.”
