1 Month, 1 Ward, 155 Arrests: Newark Police Crack Down On Alleged Drug Transactions

NEWARK, NJ — Newark police recently arrested 155 people in the city’s Central Ward in the span of a month in connection with alleged drug transactions and open warrants, authorities announced Tuesday.

Newark officers amassed the plethora of arrests during a “concentrated crime reduction effort” in September in response to citizen complaints about alleged “open-air drug sales” in the area, police stated.

The operation involved members of the Newark Police Division’s Special Enforcement Bureau, Traffic Enforcement Unit, mounted officers and precinct officers who increased their patrol presence in the area over the month-long crackdown, authorities said.

According to police, complaints from Central Ward residents increased after a 28-year old New York man was charged with for drug possession and child endangerment near the Oscar Miles Village housing complex at Lincoln and Mercer streets on Sept. 3.

Officers reportedly arrested the man after catching him with heroin and needles in a parked car with a three-year-old child inside, authorities say.

• See related article: Newark Cops Find Man and Child In Car With Heroin, Needles

The Central Ward includes Downtown, University Heights, Clinton Hill (Upper Clinton Hill), Springfield/Belmont, an unnamed residential area to the north of Avon Avenue, the south of South Orange Avenue, the east of Irvington and the west of Bergen Street.

Tuesday’s announcement comes on the heels of other recent crime enforcement campaigns in the city, including a drug sweep at Broad and Market streets and a “quality of life” crackdown in the city’s West and Central Wards.

• See related article: Newark Police Arrest 15 During Drug Sweep At Broad and Market Streets
• See related article: Newark Cops Conduct ‘Quality of Life’ Crackdown In West, Central Wards
• See related article: Newark’s War Against The Poor: Cops Crack Down On Panhandlers, Beggers