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Crime & Safety

Police: Five Arrested in Hudson Terrace Heroin Operation

One Fort Lee resident and four from New York are charged with packaging for distribution over $250,000 in heroin.

A suspicious car spotted on Hudson Terrace late Wednesday night led police to an apartment above, where they arrested five men for allegedly packaging over $250,000 of heroin for sale.

Around 12:49 a.m. Thursday morning, according to police, Fort Lee K-9 Officer Rick Hernandez saw a car with a Pennsylvania registration turn onto Hudson Terrace from Myrtle Ave, driving on the wrong side of the road with a flat tire.

Hernandez pulled up to the car to check on the driver, Jose Rivas, of New York, and police say he called for backup when Rivas repeatedly changed his story about what he had been doing that night.

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Officer Carlos Cabrera and Detective Thomas Porto arrived and were able to determine that Rivas had come from an apartment at 2365 Hudson Terrace. When police knocked on the door, they say, envelopes known to be used in the packaging of heroin could be seen in plain view.

After spotting the packaging materials, Hernandez drew his gun and pushed through the door, ordering the men in the apartment to the floor. Police arrested Rivas, Juan Santana of Fort Lee, and New York men William Jerez, Roberto Perez-Garcia and Yomaira Sencion.

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According to police, Santana and Jerez were in the process of packaging the drug at the kitchen table when they entered the apartment.

Police posted an officer at the door until they could get a search warrant for the apartment, which was given to them Thursday afternoon. According to a department release, the search turned up three pounds of heroin at various stages in the packaging process, with a street value of over $250,000, marijuana and drug paraphernalia, two stolen handguns, and a box of 9mm ammunition.

Santana, who rented the Hudson Terrace apartment, had only been living in Fort Lee for about six months, police say.

All five men were arraigned and taken to the Bergen County Jail, and face charges of possession of heroin with the intent to distribute, possession of a controlled dangerous substance within 500 feet of a park, and possession of marijuana, a handgun, and narcotic paraphernalia.

Except for Rivas, who was found outside the apartment, the men are also charged with maintaining a drug facility.

"The Fort Lee Police Department Patrol and Narcotics Unit will continue to work every day to end the destruction that narcotics cause in Bergen County and the state," Chief Keith Bendul said.

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