Maywood Police Officer Finds 2 Pounds Of Pot, $900 Cash During Stop

Officer Gregory Mulawka pulled over the gray Toyota Corolla an improper turn at the intersection of Essex Street and Maywood Avenue just before 9 p.m. Thursday, Police Chief David T. Pegg said.

While speaking with both occupants, Mulawka smelled marijuana, the chief said.

The driver and front seat passenger -- later identified as Louis Santangelo – “gave conflicting accounts of their whereabouts prior to the motor vehicle stop,” Pegg said.

A search turned up the pot, as well as cocaine, drug paraphernalia and $900 in suspected drug proceeds.

Santangelo, 29, of Fort Plain, was having drugs for sale and money laundering.

A judge ordered him held in the Bergen County Jail, where he remained Friday morning, pending a bail hearing.

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