Cocaine, stolen gun charges returned against Mexican immigrant busted by Fort Lee detective with secret car compartment

ONLY ON CVP: A Mexican immigrant illegally living in Passaic had several ounces of cocaine stashed in a secret electronic compartment in his car, as well as several more — along with a stolen handgun — in his apartment, an indictment alleges.

Photo Credit: *Cliffview Pilot File Photo*

Jerry DeMarco

05/24/2015 3:55 p.m.

Francisco Oropenza-Lima, 28, was pulled over on westbound Route 4 the night of last Dec. 20 by Fort Lee Detective T.J. Cullen for having tinted windows.

Cullen searched the 2000 Mercury Sable after Oropenza-Lima admitted that he didn’t have a license because he wasn’t a citizen — and took him into custody after finding the hidden cocaine, authorities said at the time.

A search followed of his Passaic apartment, where investigators said they found eight more ounces of the drug, a kilo press, bottles of lidocaine (used to cut cocaine) and a Taurus PT 738 .380-caliber semi-automatic reported stolen from a Hanover Township, PA couple in Pennsylvania last July.

The six-count indictment returned by a grand jury in Hackensack variously charges Oropenza-Lim with possession of:

• cocaine and adulterants with the intent to distribute the drug;
• the gun;
• stolen property.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency has a detainer on Oropenza-Lima, who remained held on $150,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail this morning (down from an original $250,000).

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