Hawthorne Police Stop: Pound+ Of Heroin, Half-Pound Pot, $1,310 Drug Money, 2 Arrests

Sometimes all it takes for a police officer who’s just stopped a car to spot is a driver with track marks on his arm and a passenger with rubber bands commonly used to package heroin on his wrist – which is what Hawthorne authorities said led to the discovery of more than a pound of heroin, more than a half-pound of pot, $1,310 in suspected proceeds and an assortment of drug-packaging material.

Anthony Papa, James Ebeling
Photo Credit: *MUGSHOT: Courtesy HAWTHORNE PD*

Jerry DeMarco

08/30/2018 3:45 p.m.

Two upstate New York men were taken into custody after borough police stopped their 2014 Ford Fusion on northbound Route 208 near Utter Avenue just before 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Both gave conflicting stories about where they were coming from and going to, police said.

A subsequent vehicle search turned up 30 bricks of heroin (1,500 glassine envelopes), the marijuana, two hypodermic syringes, the cash and “an assortment of packaging material consistent with narcotics distribution,” according to a release prepared by Capt. Jeff Vanderhook.

Police seized it all and arrested driver Anthony Papa, 27, of Johnstown (Fulton County) and James Ebeling, 21, of St. Johnsville (Montgomery County).

Both were charged with various drug counts and sent to the Passaic County Jail, where they remained held Thursday pending a detention hearing.

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