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Fort Lee police bust Paterson man with $46,396 cash in untaxed cigarette trafficking

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Fort Lee police arrested a Paterson man on money laundering charges and seized $46,396 cash bundled into rubber-banded bricks that they said was headed south to by untaxed cigarettes following a traffic stop.

Photo Credit: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF

Detective T.J. Cullen stopped a rented mini-van Friday night for following too closely on southbound Route 95, Capt. Stanley Zon said this morning.

After giving Cullen an altered rental agreement for another vehicle, Fahed Alsaidi opened the glove box to get the registration, revealing a bundle of banded cash, Zon said.

Alsaidi also had “a hand-written ledger book with large monetary amounts listed on it” and a black plastic bag on the floor with “a large, rectangle-shaped object in it,” he said.

It turned out to be eight bricks of currency, the captain said.

Alsaidi was taken into custody and the van impounded.

After obtaining a search warrant, detectives found “more ledgers with large monetary amounts, as well as handwritten orders for approximately 250 cartons of cigarettes,” Zon said.

Alsaidi was taken to the Bergen County Jail, then was released after posting $15,000 soon after.

MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF

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