23 arrested in New Jersey drug bust spanning 3 counties, prosecutors say
Prosecutors in three New Jersey counties, along with federal authorities, announced a massive drug bust on Thursday that resulted in 23 arrests.
Authorities said the investigation started in Wayne last year when police began working with Pompton Lakes investigators on a case involving two people selling cocaine.
How it all went down
"The first phase of the investigation resulted in seven search warrants at 10 locations and 10 arrests," Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes said.
That investigation expanded to Ridgewood and Paterson, where authorities say they confiscated more than $300,000 in cash, 4 kilos of cocaine, several pounds of fentanyl and heroin, 1,000 oxycodone pills, and eight weapons, including an AK-47.
"The higher-level sellers were obtaining products from New York City, namely the Bronx, and bringing it back to Passaic County for distribution and beyond in vehicles and residences," Valdes said.
"When you take 25,000 bags of heroine off the street that are basically fentanyl, at this point pure fentanyl, yeah, it definitely puts a dent," Wayne Police Chief Joseph Rooney added.
Rooney said undercover officers and beat cops are the heroes on the frontlines fighting the fentanyl epidemic.
"In the past two months of 2025, our officers, patrol division officers, have responded to six overdoses, and, with their rapid response and the deployment of Narcan, have saved those six lives," Rooney said.
"Every single bit of drugs that is taken off the street, every gun that's taken off the street, is an untold story of what could have happened," Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said.
Only 4 of the 23 arrested remain behind bars
The majority of the nearly two dozen arrested, however, were released, with only four remaining behind bars.
"But the top people, the first-degree charges, will go to prison and our efforts are to put them out of business," Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said.
"We know in a day or two some of the people will be out there again, but so will we," Valdes said.
Valdes said the investigation is ongoing and that law enforcement is looking for tips from the public.