Police Arrest Five for Drug, Weapons Offenses

While executing search warrants Wednesday on two Newark homes, police arrested five people after the four men and one woman were found with two guns and "a large amount" of drugs, according to authorities.

In the first raid, on Clinton Avenue, detectives recovered two handguns, a .9mm and a .45 caliber, approximately 275 grams of marijuana, more than 50 Ecstasy pills, 30 oxycodone pills, Xanax pills, ammunition for both firearms, various items of narcotics paraphernalia and more than $100, according to Essex County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Fennelly.

Richard Miranda, 22, Robert Cheek, 21, and Mildred Miranda, 21, all of Newark, were charged with drug offenses. Richard Miranda and Cheek also were charged with weapons offenses. Mildred Miranda also was charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.

Fennelly said Richard Miranda and Mildred Miranda were remanded to Essex County jail in lieu of $200,000 and $2,500, respectively. Cheeks was released, pending a court appearance, according to Fennelly.

In the second raid, on Mt. Prospect Avenue, detectives recovered "a quantity of marijuana" and arrested Michael Gonzalez, 20, of Newark, according to Fennelly. He said detectives also encountered Louis Figueroa, who found to have several outstanding warrants for his arrest. Figueroa's age and hometown were not released.

Gonzalez was charged with drug offenses and released, pending a court appearance, according to Fennelly.

The prosecutor said the arrests were part of an ongoing investigation by the Essex County Prosecutor's Office Violence Interdiction/Intelligence Prosecution Eradication Recidivism, or VIPER, Unit, but declined to elaborate.

— Staff reports