The Mercer County Narcotics Task Force concluded a month-long investigation Thursday night with one arrest and the seizure of $88,000 in heroin and more than $17,000 in cash, Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri reported.
According to authorities, at approximately 5:45 p.m. on September 14, officers with the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office, and the Hamilton and Trenton police, under the command of the prosecutor’s Special Investigations Unit, observed the target of their investigation exit his Race Street residence and enter the adjacent alley. Believing that Jamal Evans was heading to his stash location to retrieve narcotics, officers attempted to detain him. Evans ran from officers and discarded a bag into the neighboring yard. He was then taken into custody without incident.
A search of Evans’ Race Street residence revealed cash totaling $17,531 in his bedroom and living room. The bag Evans discarded was found to contain 15 bricks of heroin.
Further investigation revealed an additional 426 bricks of heroin in the neighboring yard. Prosecutor’s Sergeant Brian Kiely stated the seized drugs have an approximate street value of $88,000.
Evans, 26, of Trenton, was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession with the intent to distribute, possession with the intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school, possession of drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest.
Evans was transported to the Mercer County Correction Center.
Despite having been charged, every defendant is presumed innocent until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.