Citizen’s tip leads to arrest of three suspected drug dealers
By Jonathan Greene
Published: January 29, 2015
Three city residents were arrested on 20th Avenue on drug charges Wednesday afternoon through the help of a concerned resident, according to the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office.
Carlos Rodriguez, 51, was arrested by sheriff’s detectives on Wednesday at around 4:30 p.m. along with Jose Cordero, 49, and Marcos, 42.
Rodriguez was observed walking out of his apartment located at 193 20th Avenue to approach a Jeep Liberty operated by Cordero and Aponte sitting in the passenger’s seat. Sheriff’s detectives suspected Rodriguez handed cocaine to Cordero and Aponte.
“After observing a hand to hand drug transaction, detectives followed the vehicle out of the area and conducted a motor vehicle stop,” Passaic County Sheriff Richard Berdnik said.
Berdnik said during the motor vehicle stop detectives found both Cordero and Aponte in possession of cocaine. Authorities returned to the 20th Avenue apartment to arrest Rodriguez finding 5 bags of cocaine in his possession.
A search of Rodriguez’s apartment yielded an additional 10 bags of cocaine, Berdnik said. Rodriguez is charged with drug possession, drug possession with the intent to distribute, and possession to distribute within a school zone.
Cordero and Aponte have been charges with drug possession, authorities said.
“I wanted to commend the citizen, whose information helped lead to the arrest of these three individuals,” Berdnik said. A concerned citizen flagged down a sheriff patrol vehicle a week before the arrest informing law enforcement officers of potential drug dealing taking place at the apartment.
“Though this was a low level narcotic operation, it was still adversely affecting the quality of life of the citizens of that neighborhood,” Berdnik said. “The PCSO will continue to actively investigate citizen driven information about illegal activity occurring in the various neighborhoods of Passaic County.”