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Emergency Services Unit Officer Jay Makroulakis and Patrol Officer Anthony Bozzetti were conducting business checks along the highway when a Nissan Rogue with Pennsylvania plates suddenly pulled out of the BP station on the southbound side of Routes 46/1 & 9 around 1 a.m.
The officers were prepared to write several motor vehicle summonses when the two occupants, interviewed separately, gave “conflicting stories as to where they were coming from and where they were going,” Capt. Thomas Ottina said this morning.
“The officers also observed numerous air fresheners, several vent fresheners, open bottles of perfume and a spray can of Febreeze” in the car, he said.
They immediately called for Fort Lee Police K-9 Officer Richard Hernandez and his partner, Greener, who quickly indicated the presence od drugs on the passenger side, the captain said.
Given consent by the driver, Ottina said, the officers search the vehicle and found the marijuana, which Fort Lee Police Chief Keith Bendul said is worth about $32,000 on the street.
The officers arrested the driver — identified as 20-year-old Anthony K. Fuentes — and his passenger, Luis A. Diaz, 24, both of Hazleton, PA.
Both were being held on $100,000 bail each in the Bergen County Jail, charged with marijuana possession with the intent to distribute the drug and possession of drug paraphernalia.
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