In what police Capt. Anthony Falco called the largest drug bust in the history of the Hoboken Police Department (HPD), the police, in a joint effort with the federal Drug Enforcement Authority (DEA), raided a Hoboken apartment Wednesday morning and discovered a stockpile of drugs with an assessed street value of over $200,000.
According to Falco, who is the commander of the HPD’s detective and vice unit, on Wednesday at 8:01 a.m. members of the Hoboken Police Narcotics Squad along with DEA agents responded to an apartment at the corner of Sixth Street and Park Avenue with an arrest warrant for Donald Meinshausen, 54, for conspiracy to buy and sell ecstasy. The warrant stemmed from a yearlong investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York that involved phone and wire taps, said John T. Gilbride, chief of the New York DEA Task Force.
Upon the officers’ arrival, according to Falco, Meinhausen refused entry to his apartment and police forcefully entered the unit. Once the police were inside the apartment, Meinshausen was arrested. According to police reports, there were “in plain view” several bags of what were believed to be marijuana. No one was injured in the raid, according to Falco.
The Narcotics Squad safeguarded the building and obtained a search warrant from the New Jersey Superior Court. Once the warrant was received, the HPD and DEA, as well as a Port Authority canine unit, thoroughly searched the apartment. They said that inside, they found 89 pounds of raw marijuana, two pounds of hydroponic marijuana, 1,200 hits of LSD, 458 grams of phencyclidine mushrooms, six bags of methamphetamine, and 26 black velvet pouches containing “Boom Boom,” which is chocolate mixed with cannabis. Also found in the bust, according to law enforcement officials, were scales and packaging equipment, over $1,600 in cash and 40 assorted pipes and other paraphernalia used in connection with marijuana.
According to Falco, as of Thursday afternoon, Meinshausen was being held at a federal detention center in Manhattan. Soon he will be extradited back to Hoboken to be charged, he said. According to Falco, he will be charged with 16 counts ranging from maintaining or operating a controlled dangerous substance facility, possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, to possession within 500 feet of a public park, and possession within 1,000 feet of a school. Church Square Park, Calabro School, Hudson School, Brandt School, Demarest and the Mustard Seed School are all located within several hundred feet of Meinshausen’s apartment. He was also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to HPD Lt. Paul DiMartino, the suspect has lived at that address for about 10 years.
Because it is an on-going investigation, police did not disclose where the suspect may have purchased the drugs, or where he may have intended to distribute them.
Thursday Mayor David Roberts said that police told him that the Hoboken apartment was use mainly as a “warehouse,” for distribution elsewhere. The mayor also thanked the police department and the DEA.
“This arrest is the result of good, solid police work and teamwork by the Hoboken Police Department and the DEA,” Roberts said. “But I would also like to say that this is not a typical occurrence in our community. It is my belief something like this in Hoboken is nothing more that an extremely rare anomaly.”