Two alleged members of the Bloods street gang were arraigned today on multiple drug charges following their arrests last night by a law enforcement task force comprised of Essex County sheriff’s detectives and Belleville police officers.
Sheriff Armando Fontoura stated that officers from his department’s Bureau of Narcotics and Belleville police conducted a plainclothes surveillance operation at Newark’s Stephen Crane Village on Thursday evening in response to numerous neighborhood complaints of open-air drug trafficking in the area.
“At the scene, our officers observed Jerome Brown and Derrick Dunn, both 23 and both from Newark, along with a 16-year-old Irvington male loitering on the steps of 958 Franklin Avenue,” Sheriff Fontoura said. “In a short period of time, each of the three suspects were approached by passersby on foot. After brief conversations, Brown, Dunn and the juvenile each exchanged items with the passersby for cash.”
Believing they had witnessed drug sales, the task force officers moved in to further investigate.
Brown was found to be in possession of 28 heroin-filled glassine envelops, stamped ‘ROLLING STONES’ in red ink, and 6 vials of ‘crack’ cocaine.
Dunn was holding 47 decks of heroin and 48 zip-lock bags of ‘crack’ cocaine while the juvenile was in possession of 32 zip-lock bags of ‘crack’ cocaine, according to authorities.
Additionally, a total of $653 in cash was seized from the three suspects.
Brown and Dunn were charged with two counts each of possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of CDS with intent to distribute, possession of CDS with intent to distribute within 1000 feet of School #4 (Belleville) and possession of CDS with intent to distribute within 500 feet of a public housing complex.
The male juvenile was charged with one count each of possession of CDS and the intent to distribute CDS.
A canvass of the area for the passersby was unsuccessful.
At today’s arraignment, bail on Brown and Dunn was set at $60,000 each and they were ordered held at the county jail.
Last night, the male juvenile was transported to the Essex County Youth Detention Center where he was placed in an electronic ankle monitoring device and released to his mother. He will have a hearing on the charges in Family Court at a later date.