Trenton Man Charged With Possession of Over $50,000 in Narcotics, Possession of Handgun

A Trenton man has been charged with multiple weapons and narcotics offenses following a two-month investigation involving the merged Mercer County Special Investigations Unit, Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph L. Bocchini Jr. and Trenton Police Director Ralph Rivera announced on Monday.

Yakeema Knight, 35, was charged with multiple counts of drug possession and possession with the intent to distribute, possession of a weapon while committing a narcotics offense, possession of a weapon by certain persons and possession of drug paraphernalia following searches of two locations in Trenton, including his home, officials said.

Police seized more than $50,000 in narcotics, $25,000 in cash and a 9mm semiautomatic weapon during the searches, conducted on Friday, officials said.

The searches were conducted by officers from the Prosecutor’s Office, the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office, the New Jersey State Police TEAMS Unit, and the Ewing, Hamilton, Lawrence and Trenton police, officials said.

At about 11:50 a.m. on Friday, officers observed Knight entering an apartment on the 300 block of South Broad Street. He was apprehended without incident as he was weighing powder cocaine on a digital scale, officials said.

Officers found him with $919, officials said.

Officers discovered 454 grams of powder cocaine hidden in multiple false bottom containers and an empty gun case; two grams of crack cocaine in the gun case; 14 ounces of marijuana on a kitchen table; a pound of marijuana in a hallway cooler; $6,230 in cash; and drug paraphernalia, including the digital scale, according to officials.

Officers also obtained search warrants for Knight’s home, where a 9mm semiautomatic handgun was found under a mattress, officials said. Additionally, officers discovered drug ledgers on top of a dresser; $3,800 in cash in a dresser drawer; and $15,300 in an orange shoebox, officials said.

Officers seized a white Ford Explorer as drug proceeds, officials said.

Lt. Mike Novembre, who was in charge of the investigation, estimates the street value of the powder cocaine at $45,800; the value of the marijuana at $6,000; and the value of the crack cocaine at $200.

Knight is being held in the Mercer County Correction Center in lieu of $250,000 cash bail.