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Ex-con Joaquin Bennett, 34, already had a criminal history, including involvement in what authorities said was a plot to kidnap a woman, keep her captive in a Paterson home and beat and rob her boyfriend at a Wayne motel.
Bennett became a recent target of city detectives who’d received a tip about drug dealing from a single-family home on 19th Avenue, in a quiet East Side neighborhood off 34th Street, Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale said.
They watched Bennett make a trio of sales and even sent in an undercover detective for a purchase, he said.
Bennett was driven to and from sales outside the immediate neighborhood by Karina D. Adams, 38, who lives with him, the director said.
Police arrested the trio of civilian buyers -- one, 55, from Washingtonville in Orange County, NY; the other, 29, from Greenwood Lake; and the third, 54, from Paterson, he said. All were released pending hearings.
Armed with a search warrant, they raided the 19th Avenue home Tuesday night.
Speziale said they found:
- 14,226 glassine envelopes of heroin;
- 190 vials of crack;
- 115 bags of marijuana;
- 32 Suboxone film strips;
- Drug packaging materials and a scale, ceramic plate and razor blades with drug residue;
- $7,541 in alleged proceeds;
- 50 rounds of .45-caliber ammunition and 13 rounds of 9mm ammo.
Detectives charged both Bennett and Adams with maintaining and operating, selling 50 heroin folds to an undercover officer, child endangerment and dozens of other-drug related counts.
Both were sent to the Passaic County Jail to await first appearances in Central Judicial Processing Court in Paterson.
Authorities at the time said Bennett was part of a five-man crew that kidnapped a woman and beat and robbed her boyfriend at a Wayne motel, telling him that they’d kill her if he didn’t pay a $2,000 ransom, in September 2016.
Police rescued the woman and arrested Bennett and his alleged accomplices. Bennett was charged with conspiracy, records show.
Eight months later, Bennett was again arrested, this time by Passaic County sheriff's officers who raided a Paterson "trap house" where buyers could use their drugs.
Detectives nabbed their main target, ex-con Reginald Bryant, after seizing a loaded .380 semi-automatic handgun, 300 envelopes of heroin and 115 Xanax pills during a Passaic County SWAT raid on the Park Avenue residence.
Bennett was charged with drug and weapons offenses, records show.
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