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The beauty of the bust, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said, was twofold:
1. The original info came in on Bergen County Sheriff Leo McGuire’s new tipster line: BergenTip.com;
2. Several differing law enforcement agencies worked as a team to pull it off.
Besides Molinelli’s Narcotics Task Force, run by Chief Steve Cucciniello, the tactical squad included investigators from the offices of McGuire, Hudson County Prosecutor Ed DeFazio, and Passaic County Chief George Wall, as well as police from local departments in Leonia and Passaic.
So it was clearly a surprise when the Ford F-350, having made its way cleanly up the East Coast, was suddenly swarming with cops just after 3 in the morning. They found the cocaine stashed in a hidden compartment in the radiator, a ranking law enforcement source told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
GOT A CRIME-BUSTING TIP?
“Our outreach to the public in support of the BergenTip program has proven effective” in fighting crime, Sheriff Leo P. McGuire told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
Go to: Bergentip.com or text ‘BergenTip‘ to CRIMES (274637).
Taken into custody were Leonardo Perez. 29, of 709 76th St. in North Bergen, and 31-year-old Jose Tavarez of Schor Avenue in Leonia. Also arrested were Leonidis Enrique Bustos, also 31; Daisy Acosta, 34; both of Tampa; and Florida residents Paul Pratt, 28, of Wimauma, and Teri Lynn Cooper, 21, of Riverview.
As soon as the tip came in, Molinelli said, authorities began watching addresses in Leonia, Edgewater and Secaucus. Before long, he said, Bustos and Acosta had been identified.
Both had previously worked with Pratt and Cooper to move a large shipment of cocaine from Florida to New Jersey in the specially equipped truck, with a secret compartment, Molinelli said.
All four left Florida together, with Pratt and Cooper driving the truck and Bustos and Acosta in a trailing car, the prosecutor said.
The buyers: Tavarez and Perez, who were arrested later in the day, he said.
In addition to the coke, authorities found $23,000 in cash, Molinelli said.
All were being held on various bails in the Bergen County Jail.
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