More than $250,000 worth of heroin and a pair of stolen handguns was seized during a raid on a borough apartment earlier this week, police said.
According to Fort Lee Chief Keith Bendul, an officer noticed a vehicle drifting over the dividing line on Hudson Terrace just before 1:00 a.m. Wednesday morning.
The car, which had Pennsylania plates, also had a flat tire and its hazard lights on.
After a traffic stop, the car’s driver, 52-year-old Jose Rivas of Bronx, gave various accounts of where he was coming from, Bendul said. Police eventually determined that he had come from a nearby apartment, and made they way to speak with its tenants.
When they arrived, 23-year-old Roberto Perez-Garcia, also of Bronx, opened the door, and an officer noticed a large plastic bag filled with dozens of much smaller bags, typically used to package narcotics.
Perez-Garcia quickly attempted to close the door, Bendul said, but police drew their weapons and made their way inside, where they found Juan Santana, 31, who lives at the home, and Bronx resident William Jerez, 44, in the process of packaging a large amount of heroin.
A woman, 29-year-old Yomaira Sencion of Manhattan, was also inside the home at the time.
After obtaining a search warrant, detectives found a around three pounds of heroin inside the apartment, including more than total of 3,000 glassine envelopes filled with the drug. They also seized two stolen handguns registered in Pennyslvania, a box of 9 millimeter ammunition, another 10,000 glassine envelopes, six bags of marijuana and other drug paraphernalia, Bendul said.
Jerez, Perez-Garcia, Santan and Sencion were all charged with possession of heroin with intent to distribute, possession of a controlled substance within 500 feet of a park, operating a drug facility, handgun possession, possession of drug paraphernalia and marijuana possession.
Rivas was charged with various drug, weapons and conspiracy charges.
All five were being held at the Bergen County Jail on bail ranging from $150,000 to $350,000.
