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$1.1M In Drugs, 5 Firearms, $65K Seized From NJ Man, Prosecutor Says
A 35-year-old Mercer County man is facing a slew of charges after investigators uncovered $1.1 million in drugs, five handguns, and $65,000 in cash from him, authorities said.
James Nalbone Jr., 35, of Hamilton Township, was arrested on Wednesday, Aug. 7, following a month-long investigation, Acting Mercer County Prosecutor Theresa L. Hilton said.
Detectives detained Nalbone at his home on Byron Avenue and executed a search warrant, Hilton said. Sgt. Tom Paglione's K-9 partner, Indy, gave positive indications of a drug odor at multiple locations within the premises, poli…
Again: Big Purple Bud Bus Guy, Woman Arrested After Series Of Raids Across NJ, NY, Cops Say
The New York owner of a popular cannabis company known for its fleet of purple buses and vans was taken into custody, as was a woman, on Wednesday, July 10, following a series of raids across New Jersey and New York, authorities said.
Searches on Bill Schlette’s Bud Bus Inc. locations Hewitt, Manahawkin, Keyport, and West Nyack, NY turned up $200,000 in cash, according to West Milford Police Capt. Parrello.
Back in May, West Milford police executed search warrants at five Bud Bus locations in town where 150 pounds of marijuana were seized, along with $11,000 in cash, police said. A warrant …
Big Purple NJ 'Bud Bus' Owner Arrested For Money Laundering, Deceptive Biz Practices: Cops
A 46-year-old Rockland County, NY man has been arrested for illegally selling marijuana out of a big purple van in New Jersey, authorities said.
Bud Bus Inc. Founder William Schlette, of West Nyack, was charged with deceptive business practices, money laundering, and drug offenses, according to Warren County Prosecutor Anthony Picone.
Two search warrants on Schlette's Bud Bus Inc, a van parked at 1077 State Highway 94 in Frelinghuysen Township, on March 7, culminated in the seizure of $1,900, a Ram Promaster van, a 2024 Loom trailer, suspected raw marijuana, and suspected cannabinoid i…
Ridgefield Park Officer Finds Gun, Hollow-Nose Ammo, $24,500 After Stopping Out-Of-State Driver
A Ridgefield Park police officer turned up a handgun loaded with hollow-nose bullets, a small amount of crystal meth and $24,500 in suspicious cash during a traffic stop, authorities said.
Officer Amanda Thomas stopped the Toyota Tundra for a number of violations at Main and Hobart streets shortly after 10 a.m. Monday, April 8, Police Chief Joseph Rella said.
The driver, 40-year-old Mexican national Raul Villanueva Muratalla of Nashville, was taken into custody a short time later, he said.
Muratalla was charged with unlawful weapons possession, possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpo…
Victims Scammed Out Of $2.2M By NJ Couple In 'Publishers Clearing House Lottery' Scheme: Cops
A couple from Secaucus is facing a litany of charges after scamming residents in multiple states out of more nearly $2.2 million, police said.
Akeem Lee and Majda Hodzic-Lee called victims in Florida, Minnesota, Arizona, Kansas, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Nebraska, saying they'd won the "Publishers Clearing House Lottery," Secaucus Police Chief Dennis Miller said.
In exchange for the vehicles and large sums of money the victims were told they won, they were required by Lee and Hodzic-Lee to send cash, money orders and/or gift cards for taxes, fees and IRS …
Cyberfootsies: Ex-NJ Couple, Money Washer Confess $4.5M Online Romance Scam
UPDATE: A former New Jersey couple and a local businesswoman have admitted scamming more than 100 lonely hearts out of $4.5 million in an elaborate online romance scheme, federal authorities charged.
Martins Inalegwu, 35, took a deal from the government, pleading guilty in U.S. District Court in Camden on Monday, March 25 to conducting an unlawful money-transmitting business and evading taxes for four straight years.
Inalegwu's wife, Steincy Mathieu, 27, had already pleaded guilty to tax evasion last November.
Oluwaseyi Fatolu, 56, of Springfield, followed her by admitting this past …
Tardy Rochelle Park Hotel Guest Busted With Cocaine, Pills, Knife: Police
A Rochelle Park hotel guest who overstayed his welcome was arrested after officers found cocaine and pills for sale in his room, authorities said.
Police responding to a call of a guest not leaving by checkout time at the Ramada by Wyndham Hotel on West Passaic Street found Anwar Mnawer, 33, of the Bronx disoriented shortly after 1 p.m. Monday, March 18, Capt. James M. DePreta said.
“In plain view inside the room, officers observed a large folding knife, prescription pills, a baggie containing a white powdery substance believed to be cocaine, and miscellaneous drug paraphernalia,” the …
Drug Dealer Sold Fentanyl Elixir To 28-Year-Old Man Before Fatal Morris County OD: Cops
A 26-year-old man has been charged in the fatal overdose of a 28-year-old man last February in Morris County, authorities said.
Anthony Dello Russo, of Cedar Knolls (Hanover), is believed to have sold a man identified only as T.H. the fentanyl and cocaine that killed him on Feb. 16, Morris County Prosecutor Robert Carroll said.
The cause of death for T.H., who was found dead at a home in Whippany, was combined toxicity of cocaine, fentanyl, and acetyl fentanyl, Carroll said alongside Chief of Detectives Robert McNally, and Hanover Township Police Chief Michael Loock.
Dello-R…
10 Vintage Cars, 1.7 Pounds Of Coke, $332K Seized From Jobless NJ Drug Dealer: Prosecutor
An unemployed Nutley man bought 10 vintage cars with the money he made selling cocaine, authorities charged.
Authorities seized the “exotic” vehicles along with nearly $332,000 in cash that Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said Omar Rios, 44, squirreled away in his apartment and a stash house.
They also grabbed 1.7 pounds of cocaine, cutting agents, packaging material and a hydraulic press used to compress cocaine for packaging, the prosecutor said.
Rios was seized during coordinated raids at his apartment in the Franklin Commons building on Franklin Avenue in Nutley, at a mixed-used …
Bergen Dad, Son Busted Again, This Time In $2.5M Jersey Shore ‘Fix-and-Flip’ Scheme
It seemed state and federal prosecutors had thrown all they could at a Bergen County father and son for a series of multi-million-dollar investment scams. But state authorities announced a new indictment against both men on Monday, Nov. 6.
This time, George Bussanich, Sr., 65, of Park Ridge, and George Bussanich, Jr., 43, of Upper Saddle River, are charged with defrauding investors and mortgage lenders out of more than $2.5 million through a “fix and flip” investment scam involving Jersey Shore real estate.
Victims believed they were funding the purchase, renovation, and resale of four…
Diamond District Operators From NJ, Long Island Busted In $673M Money Laundering Scheme: Feds
Four businessmen from New Jersey and one from Long Island laundered millions of dollars a day in cash through fronts they set up in New York City’s Diamond District, federal authorities charged.
Federal agents tied the quintet to $673 million in dirty money laundered through the illicit operations over the past four years, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said.
In exchange, Raj Vaidya, 26; Rakesh Vaidya, 51; Shrey Vaidya, 23; and Neel Patel, 26, all of Edison; and Youssef Janfar, aka “Joe Rodeo,” 57, of Great Neck, NY collected sizable fees, he said.
The three Vaidyas and P…
Mid-Atlantic Crime Ring Arrests For NJ Armed Robberies, Carjackings
An indictment of 16 members of a violent mid-Atlantic crime ring has been unsealed and the federal agencies are naming names.
Of the 16, eight of the alleged crime ring members were arrested in the morning on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, police in Fairfax County, Virginia announced later that day.
They were all arrested in connection to a violent crime spree that took place between Jan. 7, 2022, through Jan. 27, 2023.
The crime ring members were all from Maryland and the District of Columbia. They met with their accused leader – Trevor Wright, also known as “Taliban Glizzy” …
