Kenrick Flores heard the warning and threw down 30 bags of heroin as Detectives Mohammed Bashir and Yamil Pimienta approached a group gathered in front of a Slater Street home shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday, city Police Director Jerry Speziale said.
The detectives grabbed Flores and pulled a loaded .45-caliber semi-automatic Expert Para pistol from the his waistband, Speziale said.
They also recovered the discarded dope, he said.
Flores was charged with drug and weapons counts and sent to the Passaic County Jail to await a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Paterson.
The gun was being sent to the New Jersey State Police Ballistics Unit to determine whether it may have been involved in other crimes.
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