MORE THAN TWO KILOS OF HEROIN/FENTANYL SEIZED AND ELIZABETH MAN ARRESTED IN HCPO NARCOTICS OPERATION

Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez has released the following information:

On July 13, 2021, following a six-week long investigation, members of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Task Force executed search warrants leading to the seizure of more than two kilograms of heroin/fentanyl.

At approximately 10 p.m., detectives conducted a motor vehicle stop of a vehicle in Jersey City and later conducted a search warrant of a backpack belonging to an occupant of the vehicle, Juan Gomez, 37, of Elizabeth.  The search of the backpack resulted in approximately one kilogram of heroin/fentanyl.  A subsequent search of Gomez’s apartment on Fairmount Avenue in Elizabeth on July 14, 2021 resulted in the seizure of an additional 1,200 grams of heroin/fentanyl.

Gomez has been charged with Possession of CDS With Intent to Distribute (Fentanyl) in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:35-5B(4), a crime of the second degree and Possession of CDS With Intent to Distribute (Fentanyl) Within 500 Feet of a Public Park in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7.1, a crime of the second degree. Additional and upgraded charges are pending.

Prosecutor Suarez credited the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration – Newark, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office and the Hudson County Sheriff’s Department K-9 Unit, with the investigation and arrests.

The above charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. R.P.C.3.6(b)(6).