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Officer Sebastian Castano immediately caught a whiff of both raw and burnt marijuana from inside the 2019 Mercedes Benz with New York plates that he stopped on Bergen Boulevard at Cliff Street, Capt. Michael Martic said.
Several large zip-locking bags of pot were scattered in plain view on the floor of the rear seat, the captain said.
The driver, Andres Restrepo, 31, of North Bergen gave Castano consent to search the vehicle, Martic said, so the officer summoned a Bergen County Sheriff’s K9 unit.
K9 Armani quickly indicated the presence of drugs in the Benz, he said.
An NCIC check also found three outstanding warrants out of Hudson County for the passenger, ex-con David Moreira, 26, also of North Bergen, the captain said.
Two 9mm handguns with extended magazines and hollow-point bullets – one a Ruger, the other a SCCY CPX-2 -- were found in personal bags belonging to each man, he said.
Martic said police also seized:
- 17 pounds of THC cartridges;
- 13 ounces of marijuana edibles;
- 14 ounces of promethazine/codeine;
- A small amount of cocaine;
- $7,000 in suspected drug money.
Both men were taken into custody and the vehicle was impounded.
Moreira was charged with selling drugs, money laundering and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon (known as a “certain persons” offense), among other counts. Restrepo was charged with similar offenses except the certain persons count.
Both men have remained held in the Bergen County Jail since last Thursday’s arrest.
Martic praised Castano for his “keen police work.”
The officer “never stops thinking about his patrol tactics in the situation he's in and always tries to turn it to his advantage,” the captain said. “In his own way he lets the bad guys know he’s got one up on them.”
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