Crime & Safety

Police Dog Sniffs Out 15 Pounds of Pot in Man's Trunk, Cops Say

A routine traffic stop led by Fort Lee Police Officer Robert Hernandez and his partner, a K-9 dog named Greener, led to the recovery of a large amount of marijuana Sunday, police said.

The keen noses of a police officer and his K-9 partner helped Fort Lee authorities recover nearly 15 lbs. of marijuana from the trunk of a Bronx man, police said Friday.

While conducting click-it-or-ticket crackdowns on Lemoine Avenue Sunday night, Patrolman Rick Hernandez pulled over a vehicle, police said. Hernandez smelled marijuana, Fort Lee Police Chief Keith Bendul said, but the driver, 32-year-old Bronx resident Edwin Diaz, denied police consent to search the car.

Hernandez's partner, a German Shepherd named Greener, then sniffed the vehicle and "indicated" marijuana was inside, Bendul said. The vehicle was seized while a search warrant was written up, he said. 

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With a search warrant in hand, police on Monday opened the trunk and found approximately 15 lbs. of marijuana, Bendul said.

Diaz was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possesion of marijuana with the intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school, and drug paraphernalia. He surrendered himself to police and was freed from Bergen County Jail Friday on $25,000 bond with a ten percent option, jail records show.

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