Three men were arrested on drug charges and 1,500 glassine envelopes of heroin was seized in a Broadway drug bust Thursday afternoon, according to Passaic County Sheriff Richard Berdnik.
Detectives setup surveillance on Broadway and East 25th Street catching Rocco Mazzo, 30, of Lodi; Terrence McCaskill, age and hometown unknown; and Gilberto Lopez Rodriguez, 39, of Paterson at around 5 p.m.
Mazzo and McCaskill were seen walking together engaged in conversation. Mazzo handed McCaskill money while the two talked. McCaskill separated from Mazzo and approached a white Ford Explorer and entered the vehicle to converse with its operator, Rodriguez.
McCaskill handed Rodriguez money and was given a black grocery bag. McCaskill got out of the car and approached Mazzo.
Detectives watched as McCaskill pulled several bricks of heroin from the bag and hand them to Mazzo. Detectives moved in on both of them. 600 glassines of heroin was seized from McCaskill and 900 from Mazzo.
Rodriguez was in possession of $2,024 in suspected drug money. His 2012 Ford Explorer was towed pending forfeiture.
Mazzo, McCaskill, and Rodriguez were each charged with possession and distribution of heroin. All three were charged with distributing drugs in a school zone, authorities said.
Rodriguez and McCaskill were additionally charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin. Rodriguez is a known drug dealer in the city. He was arrested in January 2016 for dealing drugs on Rosa Parks Boulevard from his apartment.
Authorities said Rodriguez was making $2,500 a week in cash profit from his drug dealing activities.
All three were processed and transported to the Passaic County Jail, authorities said.