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A Bergen County Regional SWAT team led a May 21 raid on the Victor Street apartment of Randy Lantigua, 25.
The early-morning raid and arrest stem from an investigation into the death of James White of Lodi, who was found unresponsive from an overdose in the bedroom of his home on April 6, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said.
Raised in Wood-Ridge, James Anthony White was a self-employed contract painter for more than 30 years, according to his obituary. He moved to Lodi from Carlstadt a decade ago.
You can read his obituary here: James Anthony White / July 17, 1961 - April 6, 2024 (Kimak Funeral Home)
Investigators believe Lantigua sold White the drugs that killed him, Musella said.
They clearly don’t have sufficient evidence at this point to charge him with strict liability for a drug-induced death, however.
Musella did emphasize on Tuesday that “the fatal dose of narcotics ingested by the victim remains ongoing and additional charges are possible.”
During Tuesday's search, Musella said, members of his Narcotic Task Force and Lodi police “recovered various narcotics evidence, including suspected fentanyl and cocaine,” the prosecutor said.
Lantigua already had a violent criminal history. He was charged in 2018 along with several other men with the attempted murder of a 19-year-old Passaic man who was shot on a city street.
SEE: Ex-Con, Four Others Charged In Passaic Attempted Murder
Detectives on Tuesday charged Lantigua with various drug possession and distribution counts and sent him to the Bergen County Jail to await a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court.
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