Three male suspects were arrested on drug charges on Tuesday afternoon by a law enforcement task force comprised of Essex County sheriff’s detectives and Irvington police officers.
Sheriff Armando Fontoura stated that as the officers prepared to execute a search warrant for the third-floor apartment at 214 Littleton Avenue they encountered a suspect, later identified as Derrick Efford, 21 of Newark, who had just exited the first-floor apartment and who was carrying three clear plastic bags, containing marijuana.
According to authorities, with the first-floor apartment door still open, officers observed Rajon Collins, 38, and Glenn Blackstone, 27, the son of Glenn Blackstone, Jr. and the target of the investigation, as they threw a blue plastic bag to the kitchen floor and ran from the apartment through the back door, Sheriff Fontoura said.
After a brief foot chase through neighboring backyards, Collins and Blackstone, both of whom are Newark residents, were arrested as they attempted to enter a taxi cab on Fairmount Avenue.
Police recovered the blue plastic bag that contained 112 grams of marijuana and 21 grams of ‘crack’ cocaine, Fontoura noted.
These narcotics were all packaged for street sale.
Following the three arrests, the task force officers made a forced entry into the third-floor apartment.
In Blackstone, Jr.’s bedroom, a large black garbage bag, containing 2,746 grams of marijuana, was discovered. An orange pill bottle, containing ‘crack’ cocaine, was also located in the living room and our officers seized a Motorola home monitoring system which is typically employed by drug dealers.
The street value of the narcotics seized at both apartments is approximate $35,000.
Blackstone, Jr. who remains at large was charged with two counts each of possession of a controlled dangerous substance and possession of CDS with intent to distribute and well as one count of the maintenance of a fortified structure.
The target’s son, Glenn Blackstone and Rajon Collins were each charged with two counts of possession of CDS, possession of CDS with intent to distribute and well as one count of possession of narcotics paraphernalia, conspiracy to violate New Jersey’s narcotics laws and resisting arrest by flight.
Police issued Efford a summons for possession of CDS then released on his own recognizance.
Blackstone and Collins are at the Essex County jail where they await a bail hearing.
These are mere accusations lodged against the suspects. They are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.