Fort Lee Detectives Seize $60K Worth of Crack, Police Say

Fort Lee police seized $60,000 worth of crack cocaine and charged two New York City men after a traffic stop on Route 4, authorities said Thursday.

Borough Detectives Cory Horton and T.J. Cullen were patrolling the highway when they noticed a Nissan Sentra tailgating another car Sept. 18, Capt. Thomas Ottina said in a statement. Detectives stopped the car near the Englewood border and smelled marijuana coming from the passenger compartment.

The passenger, 38-year-old Audris Gonzalez, told Horton he smoked marijuana in the car while driving from New York City, according to Ottina. Gonzalez was arrested at the scene when a records check revealed he had active traffic warrants issued by Fort Lee.

Police asked permission to search the rented car, but driver Efrain Gonzalez declined, Ottina said. Gonzalez was driving with a suspended license and released on two traffic summonses.

Borough investigators later obtained a search warrant for the Nissan, where they discovered about a pound of crack in the truck, Ottina said.

A Drug Enforcement Administration official told borough police the agency had not seen that much crack in a single arrest since the late 90’s, according to the captain.

Audris Gonzalez, of the Bronx, N.Y., and Efrain Gonzalez, 37 of Manhattan, N.Y., were charged with first degree possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute and second-degree possession with intent to distribute within 500 feet of a public housing complex.

Records show Audris Gonzalez was being held on $100,000 bail at the Bergen County Jail. Efrain Gonzalez was awaiting extradition from New York, where state troopers arrested him on a warrant from Fort Lee.