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Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy Tapped To Head Trump's New Dept. Of Government Efficiency Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy Tapped To Head Trump's New Dept. Of Government Efficiency
Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy Tapped To Head Trump's New Dept. Of Government Efficiency President-Elect Donald Trump continues to fill his cabinet with loyalists and his biggest supporters following his sweeping victory in last week's election.  He announced Tuesday, Nov. 12, that two billionaire former rivals turned allies, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, would head up his new Department of Government Efficiency.  Related: Trump Nominates NY Rep. Elise Stefanik As UN Ambassador The tech entrepreneur, age 53, and the 39-year-old Harvard and Yale Law grad will be tasked with major cuts in government spending. Trump called it "The Manhattan Project" for a new…

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by Josh Lanier
Police & Fire
Feds: Fugitive Who Sold Mail-Order Fentanyl To NJ Customers On Dark Web Indicted On 14 Counts Feds: Fugitive Who Sold Mail-Order Fentanyl To NJ Customers On Dark Web Indicted On 14 Counts
Feds: Fugitive Who Sold Mail-Order Fentanyl To NJ Customers On Dark Web Indicted On 14 Counts A fugitive who sold mail-order fentanyl on the dark web while being pursued by authorities in Canada for nearly two years was indicted on federal charges in New Jersey on Tuesday following a Homeland Security investigation. Michael C. Wozney, a 38-year-old Canadian national from Ontario, was a fugitive when he slung the potentially fatal drug in various dark net marketplaces, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. This included hundreds of transactions in the Empire Market, according to a 14-count indictment that Sellinger said was returned by a grand jury in Newark on Jan. …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Kidnappers Owed Drug Money Kept Victim Tied In U-Haul For Hours In NJ: Police Kidnappers Owed Drug Money Kept Victim Tied In U-Haul For Hours In NJ: Police
Kidnappers Owed Drug Money Kept Victim Tied In U-Haul For Hours In NJ: Police A woman was arrested for kidnapping and two suspects remain at-large as Secaucus police continue their investigation into the sale of narcotics at motels in the town, authorities said.  Police found one member of an illicit drug distribution ring was kidnapped at knifepoint in Jersey City in June 2023, since he owed Erica Festino, another member of the drug ring, money, police said. The victim was bound and driven around Hudson County in the back of a U-Haul truck for hours and robbed of cash and personal items, police said. He was eventually released, police said.  Festino was ar…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
$1M In Cash, $2M In Luxury Cars, 200 Catalytic Converter Pallets Seized In Federal NJ Bust $1M In Cash, $2M In Luxury Cars, 200 Catalytic Converter Pallets Seized In Federal NJ Bust
$1M In Cash, $2M In Luxury Cars, 200 Catalytic Converter Pallets Seized In Federal NJ Bust A Homeland Security investigation netted eight area arrests, including six in Newark, as part of a nationwide takedown of a large catalytic converter and stolen car ring. HSI and FBI agents seized more than 200 pallets of catalytic converters, $2 million in exotic cars, $1 million in cash and 29 ounces of gold bars, jewelry and high-value handbags as part of the operation.  "This criminal enterprise involved multiple suspects across the country," said Special Agent In Charge Ricky J. Patel of HSI Newark.  A total of 21 suspects were arrested in eight states.

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by Jon Craig
News
Alert Infant Found Inside Stolen SUV In Newark: Authorities Alert Infant Found Inside Stolen SUV In Newark: Authorities
Alert Infant Found Inside Stolen SUV In Newark: Authorities A suspect was at-large after a 3-month-old infant was found inside of an abandoned Mercedes Benz SUV with a Texas plate in Newark on Tuesday, Oct. 18, authorities say.  Irvington police had alerted several municipalities in Essex County and the Child Abduction Response Patrol Units that the gold SUV was taken from the 1100 block of Clinton Avenue in Irvington at 8:09 p.m., according to the Essex County Sheriff's Department. The baby was found "awake and alert" in the backseat in Newark's South Ward on Tuesday evening, at 10:51 p.m., Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura said, addi…

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by Jillian Pikora
News
Ex-Mamajuana Café Co-Owner From Bergen Admits Bankruptcy Fraud Ex-Mamajuana Café Co-Owner From Bergen Admits Bankruptcy Fraud
Ex-Mamajuana Café Co-Owner From Bergen Admits Bankruptcy Fraud UPDATE: A Bergen County businessman who once co-owned the popular Mamajuana Café chain admitted in federal court that he concealed assets from a bankruptcy trustee. An investigation by the NYPD and New York City-based Homeland Security agents led to charges against Victor Osorio, 53, of Cresskill, who helped spark the Dominican restaurant chain's expansion to Paterson, East Rutherford, Secaucus, West New York and Woodbridge, as well as to New York and Florida. Osorio, a Dominican native who also co-owned a separate restaurant in Pennsylvania, filed for Chapter 7 relief in U.S. District Cour…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: NJ Man Who Sent Links To Investigator For $20 Had 22,000 Child Sex Abuse Images Feds: NJ Man Who Sent Links To Investigator For $20 Had 22,000 Child Sex Abuse Images
Feds: NJ Man Who Sent Links To Investigator For $20 Had 22,000 Child Sex Abuse Images For just $20, a South Jersey man sent an undercover investigator links to websites that contained images of child sexual abuse, but that was nothing compared to what later turned up, federal authorities said. Homeland Security agents who raided the Willingboro home of Al-Fahim Medina, 22, found more than 22,000 illegal images, including those of “prepubescent children being sexually abused,” Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. It all began last January, Honig said, when the undercover agent found coded online language offering the sale of child pornography on Twitter. The Twitter…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: Essex County Man Shared Child Sex Abuse Videos Feds: Essex County Man Shared Child Sex Abuse Videos
Feds: Essex County Man Shared Child Sex Abuse Videos An Essex County man trafficked child sex abuse videos, said federal authorities who arrested him this week.Mauricio Calderon, 49, of Belleville had several of the images on devices at his home when federal Homeland Security agents arrested him,  U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. Calderon shared "multiple graphic videos depicting the sexual abuse of minors" using an app, Carpenito said.He also "publicly posted in a chatroom multiple videos depicting the sexual abuse of children and also sent links that redirected to web-pages containing child pornography," the U.S. attorney said. …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Tactical Teams Deployed At Mosques Throughout Bergen Following New Zealand Massacre Tactical Teams Deployed At Mosques Throughout Bergen Following New Zealand Massacre
Tactical Teams Deployed At Mosques Throughout Bergen Following New Zealand Massacre Mosques throughout Bergen County were getting extra attention Friday following the massacre of 49 worshippers in New Zealand. Bergen County’s Rapid Deployment Team and members of the Regional SWAT team were patrolling the areas around the mosques, where Muslims gathered Friday on what is considered a holy day for the weekly jum’a prayer. “After consulting with [state] Homeland Security and Preparedness officials, we increased the protection over concerns about copycat attacks,” Bergen County Prosecutor’s Chief of Detectives Robert Anzilotti said. The units were activated at 10 a.m. and wer…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Legendary NJ K-9 Crosses Bridge To Dog Run In Sky Legendary NJ K-9 Crosses Bridge To Dog Run In Sky
Legendary NJ K-9 Crosses Bridge To Dog Run In Sky TRIBUTE: He became a legend as the last of the New Jersey Fire Marshal’s original K-9 unit and, over his career, helped solve countless crimes – among them, homicides and arsons. Those who loved and worked with him said goodbye on Monday to Scout. Scout worked with various county prosecutors’ offices, as well as with federal agents from the U.S. Treasury, ATF and Homeland Security. He helped locate more than $9.5 million of counterfeit and untaxed cigarettes. “He retired with me in 2016,” partner/handler Jeff Silver said at a gathering at the Oradell Veterinary Group in Fort Lee. He was a …

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by Jerry DeMarco