Essex County sheriff’s detectives arrested a suspected drug dealer who was operating on the premises of the Stephen Crane Village public housing complex.
According to Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura, the arrest comes in response to continuous neighborhood complaints of open-air drug trafficking at the housing complex.
Sherriff Fontoura said, officers from his department’s Bureau of Narcotics staged a plainclothes surveillance operation in the vicinity of Building #7, located at 946 Franklin Avenue, on Thursday afternoon.
According to Fontoura, at the location, the suspect, later identified as Charlevester Anthony, 22, of Newark, was observed loitering in the area.
He was soon approached on foot by Alis Ortiz, 41, of Newark, and after a brief conversation between the suspects, Anthony allegedly exchanged items from his waistband with Ortiz for cash.
The sheriff’s BON detectives followed Ortiz and detained him for questioning a few blocks away from the scene where Ortiz admitted to having just purchased two heroin-filled glassine envelops, stamped “CALL OF DUTY” in green ink.
Officers moved in and ultimately seized 88 similarly marked decks of heroin, 11 zip-lock bags of ‘crack’ cocaine and $159 in cash.
Anthony was placed under arrest and charged with ten criminal counts for the sale, possession, and distribution of controlled dangerous substances.
Ortiz was additionally charged with one count of possession of CDS, and he was found to be the subject of an open warrant issued by the Madison municipal court.
The Essex County Prosecutor’s Screening Unit approved all the charges and Anthony and Ortiz were lodged at the county jail where they await a bail hearing.
This is the second consecutive day where the Sherriff's has made successful arrests of alleged drug dealers at the complex authorities said.
These are mere allegations lodged against the suspects. They are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.