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Working in tandem with the Darien Police Department, the Bridgeport Police Narcotics Task Force lured Joel Jean, 29, of Hansen Avenue, to a fake drug deal, where he was arrested without incident around 6 p.m., Bridgeport Police Chief AJ Perez said.
Perez and officers said Jean, who is on parole, had been dealing to young people across Fairfield County, but Darien Police first contacted Bridgeport to begin the months-long investigation.
Mayor Joe Ganim, speaking at a press conference on the arrests, said the incident sends a message that the city will no longer tolerant “out of control” gun violence and drug dealing.
“They’re not going to be thinking this is the Wild West because it’s not,” he said.
When Jean was stopped in his 2004 Honda Accord, he was with his “cohort,” Scott Similien, who was also taken into custody, police said. During a search of the Hansen Avenue multifamily home, another resident, Jamel Jacobs, arrived, police said. Police found a .45-caliber handgun, for which he had a permit, in his car, police said.
Jacobs gave police the combination to a safe in the home, where police found the marijuana, Darien Police said.
A search of the home turned up the drugs, a pump-action 12-gauge shotgun, two loaded semi-automatic pistols, scales, assorted ammunition and drug-packaging materials, according to Darien Police. Police also seized Jean’s car because they had seen him transporting heroin in it, police said.
Jean was charged with criminal attempt at sale of narcotics, possession of marijuana with intent to sell, possession of narcotics with intent to sell and operating a drug factory, Darien Police said. Jean was charged separately with an arrest warrant for one count of sale of narcotics that was attached with a court set bond of $250,000.00, police said.
Due to his parole status, Jean will be remanded back into custody, police said.
Similien was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to sell and criminal attempt at sale of narcotics, police said. He was held in lieu of $50,000 pending his arraignment in court.
Jacobs was charged with possession of over four ounces of marijuana and operating a drug factory, police said. He was held in lieu of $50,000.
Ganim praised the tactical unit and police officers for getting three more guns off city streets.
“What really rips at the fabric is the gun violence,” he said.
Perez said Jean was selling bundles of heroin at $500 to $600 each, usually selling several at once to mostly younger people throughout the county.
“The scourge of heroin is killing our kids,” he said.
The investigation is ongoing and most arrests are possible, Perez said.
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