Crackdown At Riverside Villa: Newark Cops Arrest 23 At Housing Complex

NEWARK, NJ — Newark police arrested 23 people during a three-day crackdown at the Riverside Villa housing complex earlier this month, authorities say.

Police reported that between Nov. 30 and Dec. 2, the joint operation between the Newark Police Special Enforcement Bureau and the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Task Force resulted in 11 arrests for intent to distribute CDS, nine for wandering with the intent to purchase narcotics, one for defiant trespassing and two bench warrant arrests.

Detectives also obtained a search warrant for a vehicle that resulted in the seizure of 100 glassine envelopes of suspected heroin and 28 plastic bags of suspected cocaine, police said.

In total, officers seized 333 glassine envelopes of heroin, 88 vials of cocaine, 28 plastic bags of cocaine, two plastic bags of marijuana, one marijuana cigarette and $2,171 in alleged proceeds from narcotics sales, police stated.

Residents at the 198-unit public housing development near Route 21 have complained for years about allegedly decrepit living conditions at the complex.

The recent Newark police crackdown at Riverside Villa comes on the heels of other crime enforcement campaigns in the city this year, including a drug sweep at Broad and Market streets, a four-day “Community Focus” operation in the Oscar Miles Public Housing Complex, 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

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