Caught! 5-Year Cocaine Fugitive Nabbed After Returning To Lodi

LODI, N.J. -- A major drug fugitive from Lodi was captured by Bergen County prosecutor's detectives and sheriff's officers after five years on the run, authorities said Thursday.

Welinton Garcia
Photo Credit: *MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR*

Jerry DeMarco

02/08/2018 11:04 a.m.

Welinton Garcia, 38, skipped bail in March 2012 after being charged with having 17 pounds of cocaine for sale, along with $150,000 in suspected drug money, during a December 2010 bust, Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo said.

The U.S. Marshals Service NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force learned that Garcia, formerly of Long Valley Road, fled to the Dominican Republic – but he couldn’t be located, Calo said.

Until Wednesday, that is, when members of the Bergen County prosecutor’s and sheriff’s offices nabbed him in Irvington.

Garcia remained held in the Bergen County Jail pending further court action.

Calo, meanwhile, thanked the sheriff’s office, the DEA, Lodi police and the Marshals Service for their work on the original case and subsequent arrest.

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