The Hoboken Police Department broke up an alleged open air market for marijuana, heroin, and crack cocaine operating in front of a strip mall near the city’s public housing two weeks ago and made 18 arrests.
After receiving multiple complaints about persistent drug dealing in front of the West Side Plaza, a collection of restaurants and stores at Third and Jackson streets, the Hoboken Police Narcotics Unit launched a two-month investigation in conjunction with the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Task Force, culminating in a sweep on May 8.
Ten male residents of Hoboken and Jersey City were arrested and charged with at least one count of drug distribution. Another Hoboken man was hit with multiple charges of drug possession with intent to distribute. Seven other Hoboken and Jersey City men were charged with lower level crimes related to the investigation, including drug possession and defiant trespassing.
Building a case that will stick
According to Hoboken Police Chief Ken Ferrante, this past February, police began receiving complaints from West Side Plaza business owners about “males hanging out outside the West Side Plaza and the properties around it, sidewalks around it, parking lots surrounding it, and that they felt [the males] were dealing drugs at that location.”
Shortly after these reports started flowing in, James Fields, 27, of Jersey City was arrested for assaulting the owner of Lorenzo’s Pizzeria in the mini-mall, police said. According to Ferrante, Fields was arrested two more times for assaults on West Side Plaza business owners on subsequent occasions. Fields was one of the 10 men arrested for drug distribution on May 8.
“In the first hour and a half, we already had 10 arrests.”—Ken Ferrante
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Based on these reports and Fields’ alleged assault, Ferrante asked Capt. Charles Campbell, who heads the Narcotics Unit, to begin an investigation of the area. “On first look, they could see that there was some activity going on in the open,” said Ferrante. “As the weather got nicer coming into March, it started to increase.”
Ferrante said the investigation took time because the joint operation of Hoboken and Hudson County had to establish probable cause in order to receive search warrants and make arrests. Although he declined to detail the specific investigative tactics, one media outlet reported that police officers posed undercover as drug customers.
The final sweep
The police had enough evidence by Wednesday, May 6 to arrest Orlando Martinez Jr. near his residence on upper Clinton Street. According to police, a search warrant of his apartment allegedly uncovered roughly five ounces of marijuana and smaller quantities of crack cocaine, heroin, steroids, and suspected datura stramonium, a hallucinogenic herb, along with over $30,000 in cash.
Martinez was charged with 15 drug-related crimes, chiefly possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute and possession with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school and 500 feet of a public park, as Martinez’s building sits adjacent to Hoboken High School and Columbus Park.
On the afternoon of Friday, May 8, Hoboken police moved on the rest of the suspects in its investigation with the support of officers from the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, Hudson County Sheriffs Office, and NJ Transit Police, and agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
“The timing was perfect,” said Ferrante. “In the first hour and a half, we already had 10 arrests.”
Seventy-seven percent of HPD’s targets were apprehended that Friday, a mark Ferrante called “unheard of.”
None of the 18 arrested individuals or 80 to 100 officers involved in the operation were injured, according to Ferrante.
Though his officers still make arrests for trespassing and low level drug possession in the Housing Authority area when they observe it, Ferrante prefers deeper operations like the one surrounding West Side Plaza, which he said are more likely to get the worst criminals off the streets. “If someone gets arrested” for a low-level offense, he explained, “they are back at the scene before the arresting officer has completed processing.”
By comparison, eight of the men arrested in the West Side Plaza bust were assessed a cash bail of at least $100,000.
Most of those charged with drug distribution received additional charges because they allegedly did so with 500 feet of public housing and within 1,000 feet of Connors Elementary School.
Ferrante applauded his officers for the quality of their investigation. “They did such a thorough job,” he said. “That’s why the bails are so high.”
In the course of the drug bust, Hoboken police also arrested three individuals who, though not targets, had open warrants or were trespassing in HHA buildings, they said.
“We can’t just ignore that as we’re doing that operation,” said Ferrante.
Real consequences
The 10 men charged with drug distribution could face serious prison time—under state law, such violations can carry a sentence of one year for distribution of less than an ounce of marijuana and three years for distribution of any other controlled substance or an ounce or more of marijuana. Past criminal history, the presence of weapons, or the amount of drugs distributed can lead to even longer sentences.
In addition, some of the men and their families could be evicted from the Hoboken Housing Authority, which maintains a one-strike policy. A person does not have to be convicted to be removed — just has to be arrested for drug dealing or violent crime — and their entire family can be removed from public housing, according to HHA interim director Robert DiVincent.
Based on their given addresses, at least six of the men charged with drug distribution reside in a public housing building in Hoboken.
According to DiVincent, the one-strike policy allows the Authority to proceed with an eviction without the full process of legal hearings typically required for such an action. The family is removed because allowing an alleged perpetrator’s family to remain would inevitably mean that they remain in the building as well, DiVincent said.
DiVincent said he had not made determinations regarding any of the men arrested as a result of the West Side Plaza investigation because he had yet to receive documentation from the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office.
Prior records
Some of the HHA residents arrested two weeks ago already have criminal records prominently featuring drug dealing. For example, Jarell Lee, who was charged with multiple counts of drug distribution two weeks ago, had pleaded guilty an earlier charge of drug distribution in 2011, according to state records. His address is given as 310 Jackson St., a segment of the HHA’s Harrison Gardens project.
Another arrestee with a striking criminal history is Jersey City resident Larry Ladson, who was arrested on May 8 for a motor vehicle warrant and alleged drug possession. In 2006, Ladson was charged with murder after he allegedly handed a teenager a gun and told him to shoot another teen, according to a Hudson Reporter article. Ladson pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of illegal possession of a weapon, according to state records, and eventually was back on the street.
Well-received move
The Hoboken Police Department’s actions garnered praise from a cross-section of Hoboken business owners, politicians, and residents.
“This investigation began in response to community concerns, and I thank all the residents who raised their voices about public safety,” said Mayor Dawn Zimmer in a statement. “I am proud that under the leadership of Chief Ferrante and the Hoboken Police Department, we are working proactively and collaboratively with the community and other law enforcement agencies to keep our community safe.”
Zimmer’s predecessor, former Mayor David Roberts, is the landlord of West Side Plaza. He said this past week that he is grateful someone stepped in to address the drug dealing issue.
“I’m very appreciative of Chief Ferrante and the department and all of the agencies that assisted the Hoboken Police Department,” said Roberts. “That entire neighborhood is now better off because of the good work of the Hoboken Police Department and the other agencies that worked on that.”
Carlo Davis may be reached at cdavis@hudsonreporter.com.
Charges filed in drug bust
The charges filed as a result of the Hoboken Police Department’s investigation are as follows. The suspects have not yet been proven guilty.
1. Kishaun Gilyard, 20, Hoboken
Multiple Counts of Distribution of Controlled Dangerous Substance (CDS)
$50,000 cash bail
2. Jarell D. Lee, 23, Hoboken
Multiple Counts of Distribution of CDS
$100,000 cash bail
3. Dyshawn G. Ladson, Jersey City
Distribution of CDS
$100,000 cash bail
4. John P. Ramos, 42, Jersey City
Multiple Counts of Distribution of CDS
$125,000 cash bail
5. James Fields, 27, Jersey City
Distribution of CDS
$125,000 cash bail
6. Julio Fermaint, 22, Hoboken
Multiple Counts of Distribution of CDS
$75,000 cash bail
7. Stacey Johnson, 44, Hoboken
Distribution of CDS
$100,000 cash bail
8. Orlando Martinez Jr., 23, Hoboken
Multiple counts of possession of CDS with intent to distribute
$100,000 cash bail
9. Luis A. Santiago, 23, Hoboken
Distribution of CDS
Bail: $50,000 cash
10. Andre L. Wheeler, 31, Hoboken
Multiple counts of distribution of CDS
$125,000 cash bail
11. Shaquil D. Huggins, Jersey City
Multiple counts of distribution of CDS
$100,000 cash bail
12. Julian Braxton, Hoboken
Possession of CDS
13. George Pickett, Hoboken
Failure to Appear Warrant
14. Larry Ladson, Jersey City
Motor Vehicle Warrant and Possession of CDS
15. Curtis Jefferies, Hoboken
Possession of CDS
16. Ray Latimer Jr, Hoboken
Possession of CDS
17. Armando Roman, Hoboken
Defiant Trespassing
Released on Summons
18. Lavada Evans, Hoboken
Defiant Trespassing
Released on Summons