Njsp: Route 46 Stop Turns Up 40 Pounds Of Coke At South Hackensack Motel, $119,500 Drug Cash

Two Massachusetts men were caught with nearly 40 pounds of cocaine in their South Hackensack motel room, said State Police who also seized more than $119,500 from the pair following a Route 46 traffic stop in Ridgefield Park.

Carlos Suarez, Erasmo Colon-Rodriguez
Photo Credit: *COURTESY: NJ State Police*

Jerry DeMarco

11/13/2019 10:42 a.m.

Members of the New Jersey State Police Trafficking North Unit assigned to the Opioid Enforcement Task Force stopped a Nissan Rogue on the highway at 4:45 p.m. Monday, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Wednesday.

They found roughly $44,000 in cash in two secret compartments built into the vehicle, Grewal said.

After taking both occupants into custody, the troopers executed a search warrant at the motel, where the attorney general said they found the coke and an additional $75,562.

Carlos Suarez, 44, of Boston, and Erasmo Colon-Rodriguez, 38, of Lawrence, were charged with first-degree cocaine possession with the intent to distribute it, as well as money laundering and conspiracy. Both remained held Wednesday in the Bergen County Jail.

Grewal said they'll be prosecuted by the state Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crimes Bureau.

He also thanked the State Police K-9 Unit, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Task Force, and South Hackensack police for their assistance.

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