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Detectives from NJSP Drug Trafficking North Unit raided drug dens in Passaic and Hudson counties following the arrest of Edwal Mercedes, 39, during a traffic stop, authorities said.
Mercedes was carrying a bogus driver's license and more than $10,000 in suspected drug cash, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and NJSP Supt. Col. Patrick J. Callahan said in a joint statement on Monday, May 8.
Seized at the North Bergen home that Mercedes shares with his brother, Edwin, was Carlos Pena Peralta, 22, Platkin and Callahan said.
Edwin Mercedes remained a fugitive as of Monday morning, however, they said.
Assisted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, State Police detectives identified the Mercedes brothers’ 46th Street home in North Bergen and a Passaic Avenue apartment in the City of Passaic as alleged drug processing facilities.
They launched a pair of simultaneous court-warranted searches at each, seizing the raw fentanyl in Passaic and more than 10 pounds of pot in North Bergen, Platkin and Callahan said.
Also found at the North Bergen address were “hydraulic equipment for pressing kilos of fentanyl, imprint face plates for stamping CDS, cutting agents, and evidence of fentanyl packaging,” they said.
Edwal Mercedes and Peralta remained held in the Bergen County Jail. They and Edwin Mercedes are charged with first-degree charges of maintaining a fentanyl production facility, as well as lesser drug-related and money laundering counts.
A manhunt for Edwin Mercedes was continuing.
Deputy Attorney General Benjamin Forrest is prosecuting the case for the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ) Gangs and Organized Crimes Bureau.
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