Essex County Detectives Seize $50K Of Illegal Drugs In Newark

NEWARK, NJ — Detectives in Essex County recently seized nearly $50,000 in illegal narcotics while carrying out a pair of search warrants in Newark, authorities said.

According to the Essex County Sheriff’s Office, police launched an investigation after getting “neighborhood complaints of drug trafficking” in the area of South 18 Street and 14 Avenue.

Sheriff’s officers executed a search warrant at dawn on Wednesday at the home of Tajion Simmons, 23, on the 400-block of South 18th Street. Police said they found Simmons attempting to flush glassine envelopes down the toilet.

During a search of Simmons’ apartment, police found 40 decks of heroin, authorities said.

Detectives also seized Simmons’s car keys and called in a K-9 dog to conduct an olfactory search of his 2004 Ford Taurus. The canine indicated a positive reaction to narcotics in the suspect vehicle and the car was impounded, authorities said.

Police received a second search warrant for the Taurus and carried it out Thursday. Officers found 220 grams of crack-cocaine, 1,000 decks of heroin, 80 grams of marijuana and two large milk crates filled with digital scales, razors and other “drug packaging and processing paraphernalia,” authorities said.

Simmons was initially charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of CDS with intent to distribute and possession of CDS with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of Full Gospel Academy.

Simmons was released with a date of Oct, 29 for his arraignment in Central Judicial Processing court. “Multiple other counts” of possession of narcotics and possession of narcotics with intent to distribute have since been filed against him, authorities said.

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