Federal agents arrest 6 in Clifton, seize over 20 kilograms of heroin

FEBRUARY 5, 2016, 5:59 PM LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2016, 8:33 PM
BY STEFANIE DAZIO AND ABBOTT KOLOFF
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD

MICHAEL KARAS/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Federal agents seized between 20 and 25 kilograms of what is suspected to be heroin on Friday, Feb. 5, 2016 in Clifton

CLIFTON — Federal agents arrested at least six people and seized 20 kilograms of heroin with a street value of as much as $10 million on Friday afternoon, authorities said.

Special Agent Timothy McMahon, a spokesman for the New Jersey division of the Drug Enforcement Administration said that authorities were in the process of filing charges Friday and that the suspects are expected to appear before a federal judge on Monday afternoon.


The wholesale value of the heroin seized was put at more than $1 million. Each kilogram of heroin is worth between $50,000 and $55,000 before it is cut and prepared to be sold on the streets, McMahon said. One kilogram of heroin can yield as many as 50,000 doses of heroin, which sell for between $5 and $10 on the street.


McMahon said he did not immediately have any further information about the arrests, including when and where they were made in Clifton. The city police and federal agents who were part of a DEA task force participated in the arrest and seizure. Detective Robert Anderson of the Clifton police said his department assisted in the arrests, and he referred questions to federal authorities.


Friday's bust is the latest in several high-profile heroin seizures in North Jersey by state and federal authorities since September.


On Monday, in what is regarded as one of the most significant drug busts in the state’s history, New Jersey State Police and the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force seized 31 kilograms of heroin and arrested four alleged members of a Mexican drug cartel at a Secaucus motel.


From September to late December, state troopers arrested five men and seized more than 130 pounds of wholesale heroin — the equivalent of more than three million doses, worth as much as $30 million on the street — in four Bergen County drug busts. In one of the cases, troopers searched a “stash house” in Teaneck and discovered 22 kilograms.


Email: dazio@northjersey.com; koloff@northjersey.com

http://www.northjersey.com/news/fede...fton-1.1507073