Investigators watched several deals at Broadway and Summer Street, an area notorious for drugs and shootings, before moving in on Jamir King, 22, as he got into an SUV, Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale said.
The driver, Tremaine Jones, 30, stuffed some crack vials into a bag as they approached and then took off on foot, Speziale said.
Detective Suquan Garry chased down Jones while Detectives William Hermann and Brian Culmone grabbed King, the director said.
Detectives Mustafa Dombayci retrieved the bag from Jones, which contained a 9mm semi-automatic Taurus handgun with a 32-round high-capacity magazine and more than 200 crack vials, Speziale said, adding that he also was carrying 80 heroin folds.
Both men were arrested, processed and sent to the Passaic County Jail to await first appearances in Central Judicial Processing Court in Paterson – King on drug charges and Jones for drug and weapons offenses.
City detectives hit another hot corner, Rosa Parks Boulevard and Godwin Avenue, where Detective John Traynor saw Rashone Clark, 29, pull a large gun from his jacket pocket and begin walking away, Speziale said.
Dombayci and Garry quickly moved in and grabbed Clark on Godwin Avenue near East 18th Street.
They seized a a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson semi-automatic handgun loaded with a high-capacity 32-round magazine and 35 heroin folds, the director said.
Clark was sent to the county lockup to await a first appearance.
The third gun of the week following the call to all units of an active robbery by two masked bandits in the 400 block of Totowa Avenue.
Detectives Yamil Pimienta and Mohamad Bashir were scouring the area when they spotted two boys who matched the broadcast descriptions on Union Avenue.
Pimienta grabbed one while Bashir chased down the other – a 15-year-old boy who had a loaded .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver with a defaced serial number in a fanny pack, Speziale said.
The first boy was released and the second was sent to the Essex County Juvenile Detention Center to await a hearing in the Family Part of Superior Court in Paterson on a delinquency complaint charging him with various offenses, including illegal weapons possession.
The guns were all bound for the New Jersey State Police lab to determine whether they might be tied to other crimes.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Newark and receive free news updates.