By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, December 21, 1990
The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page B03
A 26-year-old Bronx man carrying cocaine for a New York City drug-trafficking ring walked into a trap Wednesday when he tried to sell an ounce of cocaine to narcotics officers, police say.
Ernesto Restrepo was being held in the Bergen County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail on charges of possession of cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, and possession of the drug within 1,000 feet of a school, police said.
The Hackensack police narcotics division also seized from the suspect a 1989 Ford Taurus equipped with a two-way radio, said Capt. John Aletta, chief of investigations. The New York-based drug ring uses such radios to communicate with potential customers, Aletta said.
The one ounce of almost pure cocaine was worth about $1,500, but its value could have ballooned when processed into other forms of the drug, Aletta said.
Members of the city detective and narcotics divisions began working on the case about a week ago when they received information about the ring’s operation in the area, Aletta said. He declined to tell the exact location of the arrest, but said it was in the area of 400 Hackensack Ave., near the Bergen County Vocational-Technical School.
After ordering the drug by radio and agreeing to meet the courier in a parking lot in the area, Detective Sgts. Michael Mordaga, Robert Wright, Allen Ust, and Walter Krakowski arrived at about 10 p.m. and arrested Restrepo at the conclusion of the transaction, Aletta said.
ID: 17327402 | Copyright © 1990, The Record (New Jersey)
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