Sheriff: Driver In $200,000 Paterson Cocaine Pickup Had Her Two Young Kids With Her

A Newark woman had her two young children with her when Passaic County sheriff's officers busted her and a companion who'd just collected a four-pound package of cocaine worth $200,000 in Paterson, authorities said.

Gisela Arroyo Valentin, David Ventura
Photo Credit: *PASSAIC COUNTY SHERIFF*

Jerry DeMarco

11/25/2022 8:30 a.m.

Sheriff Richard Berdnik said his detectives were watching as Gisela Arroyo Valentin, 35, pulled up to a targeted location in a Honda Civic and David Ventura, 39, of Paterson got out in the middle of the afternoon.

Valentin waited while Ventura entered a building and then emerged a short time later with the cocaine, the sheriff said.

Ventura was reaching for the front passenger door of the Civic when the investigators moved in and seized both him and Arroyo, Bernick said.

Ventura told them he'd been paid $1,000 in cash for the pickup -- which they found in his coat pocket, the sheriff said.

Both he and Valentin were sent to the Passaic County Jail on drug charges. Valentin also was charged with two counts of child endangerment, Berdnik said.

Child protective services representatives were called to temporarily place the minors with a responsible adult.

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