Police: Tailgating Route 46 Driver Had 9 Pounds Of Pot For Sale

A Lodi driver had nine pounds of pot for sale in his sedan when a Little Ferry police officer stopped him for tailgating on Route 46, authorities said.

Ashley Ortiz
Photo Credit: *LITTLE FERRY PD*

Jerry DeMarco

12/29/2020 10:33 a.m.

Officer Joseph Convery stopped Ashley Ortiz, 26, on the westbound highway Monday night, Capt. Ronald Klein Jr. said.

"While speaking with him, the officer noticed an overwhelming odor of marijuana and saw a vacuum-sealed bag [of pot] in plain view on the passenger seat," Klein said.

Backed up by Officer James Serio, Convery conducted a consented search of the 2019 Honda Accord and found more than 300 zip-locking bags of pot packaged for sale, along with loose buds in jars and other containers, the captain said.

Ortiz also was carrying $3,470 in rubber-banded cash that was seized as drug proceeds, he said.

Ortiz was charged with drug possession and distribution and sent to the Bergen County Jail, where he remained Tuesday awaiting a detention hearing.

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