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Abdel W. Shileh, a 35-year-old Palestinian national, faces a staggering 81 counts involving the possession of stolen weapons, armed burglary and other offenses, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said.
Detectives from Musella's Narcotics Task Force watched late last week as Shileh met with a pair of gun buyers -- Michael Hayes, 31, of Jersey City and Turron Ward, 43, of Irvington – at his Moonachie shop and his apartment right next door, the prosecutor said.
A traffic stop and warranted vehicle search on Friday, March 25, uncovered a hidden compartment holding two stolen handguns, one of them equipped with a high-capacity ammo magazine, Musella said.
Ward and Hayes were jailed while Shileh was freed – although only temporarily.
A Bergen County Regional SWAT team led a court-approved raid on his apartment on Monday the prosecutor said turned up 18 stolen handguns, 12 stolen rifles, a stolen assault rifle, a stolen grenade launcher and crystal meth.
A subsequent search of the business, off Grand Avenue, produced two more stolen rifles and the pilfered sports stuff, Musella said.
Shileh was taken into custody and remained held Tuesday in the Bergen County Jail pending a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack on a host of charges -- including drug and weapons offenses, armed burglary, theft and receiving stolen property.
The U.S. Marshal Service also placed a detainer on him for an unspecified offense. An old warrant from 2009, out of Edison, NJ, also turned up, records show.
Ward and Hayes also remained held in the county lockup, on illegal weapons charges and a pair of receiving stolen property counts.
Musella, meanwhile, thanked Moonachie police, the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Bergen County Regional SWAT Team for their assistance.
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