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The investigators were in an unmarked car Thursday night when they saw a heroin deal go down in the parking lot of the Popeye’s on Market Street, city Police Director Jerry Speziale said.
They moved in and arrested Muhammad R. Al-Barr, 49, of Newark, who they said sold 10 heroin envelopes to a 27-year-old Rahway woman, Speziale said.
Seized were 1,250 heroin folds, 82 crack baggies, two crystal meth baggies and $2,513 in cash, he said.
The woman was charged with heroin possession and released. Al-Barr, meanwhile was charged with a variety of drug possession and distribution counts and sent to the Passaic County Jail to await a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Paterson.
The following night, Speziale said, detectives responding to complaints watched as an accused dealer sold a bag filled with 800 heroin folds to two men sitting in a car stopped near the corner of Main Street and 20th Avenue.
They moved in and arrested Cruz Maisonet, 47, who lives nearby, and both occupants, identified as Juan Rodriguez, 32, of Montville, PA and Edwin Malave (no age given) of Paterson.
They seized the heroin, as well as $1,803 that Speziale said Maisonet was carrying and $939 from Rodriguez.
Rodriguez was sent to the Passaic County Jail on a fugitive warrant issued by the Northern Lancaster County Regional Police Department in Pennsylvania.
The other two were processed and released pending court hearings.
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