The seizure is the largest in Passaic County since 2004, when the Drug Enforcement Agency shut down a major heroin-processing mill in a three-family home in Clifton and seized about 44 pounds of purified heroin worth an estimated $32 million
Drugs Were Shipped From Mexico ...
New Jersey Officers Seize $5 Million In Cocaine
~ CRISTIAN SALAZAR
North Jersey Media Group
Updated: September 11th, 2006 03:06 PM EDT
PATERSON -- Ninety-six kilograms of cocaine with an estimated value of $5 million were seized at an apartment on Twelfth Avenue that was used as a transfer station for drugs shipped from Mexico to distribution sites in North Jersey, officials said Friday.
Meanwhile, two New York City men were arrested on Broadway -- a few blocks from the house involved in Thursday's raid -- in the culmination of a month long investigation led by the Passaic County Sheriff's Department and the Paterson Police Department.
Officials also seized three cars, including one with Ohio license plates, with hidden compartments containing $360,000 in cash.
Rafael Franco, 43, of Brooklyn, and Jorge Acevedo, 32, of Queens, were charged with several drug offenses, including possession of a controlled dangerous substance and intent to distribute in connection with a narcotics distribution scheme.
"We consider this a very significant seizure," said Bill Maer, a spokesman for the county Sheriff's Department who announced the seizure and arrests Friday.
"The department used every mechanism within its means to make these arrests. The department had no problem using contacts both domestically and internationally," he said.
Maer described the distribution ring as highly sophisticated but could not go into detail about the depth and scope of the network, saying the investigation is ongoing. The drugs were shipped from a Mexican cartel, he said. The raid stems from detectives' contact with other local narcotics investigations.
The drugs were brought to the apartment at 427 12th Ave. and then distributed to lower-level dealers, Maer said. The house faces the corner of East 29th Street and is only a few blocks from a hardened strip of the city some residents have come to call "Murder Avenue," named after a spate of killings there in recent years.
But on Friday, a resident on the same block as the alleged drug-transfer site -- who did not give her name -- said she had no idea about the cocaine being sold out of the apartment or if anyone even lived there. The house, a beige vinyl-sided structure that seemed to shine as if newly built, appeared to be empty. No furniture of any kind was visible through the front windows.
Franco and Acevedo were "fairly significant" members of the narcotics ring, Maer said.
The seizure is the largest in Passaic County since 2004, when the Drug Enforcement Agency shut down a major heroin-processing mill in a three-family home in Clifton and seized about 44 pounds of purified heroin worth an estimated $32 million.
Recent large drug busts in Passaic County, according to Herald News archives:
In 1999, Venezuelan authorities seized cocaine destined for Passaic County after getting a tip from the Passaic County Sheriff's Department. The shipment was valued at $48 million.
In 2001, during a routine traffic stop, Paterson police recovered 283 pounds of cocaine worth $12 million.
In 2004, federal and state narcotics agents seized 44 pounds of purified heroin worth an estimated $32 million.
In May, detectives with the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office conducted raids in Paterson, Clifton and North Bergen, seizing 180 pounds of cocaine worth about $1.6 million.
In June, the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office seized hundreds of marijuana plants worth about $1 million from a house in Haledon.
In July, a Passaic County Sheriff's officer stopped a driver with cocaine in his vehicle worth $1.2 million.
Reach Cristian Salazar at 973-569-7165
Copyright 2005 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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