New Milford Man Arrested In Countywide, Anti-Heroin Crackdown

NEW MILFORD, N.J. — Forty people, including a borough resident, were arrested in a sweeping countywide effort this week to try and not just get the drugs off the street, but to help the people using them.

Operating Helping Hand was run by a multi-agency task force consisting of detectives from several police departments, coordinated by the prosecutor's office, said Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal.

Detectives began patrolling known areas where heroin and other opioids are dealt, especially Elmwood Park and Fair Lawn, where many of the arrests were made, and the individuals were arrested.

Elliott West, 52, of New Milford, was charged with possession of heroin, Grewal said.

Of the 40 people charged, 12 took advance of a detox program offered through Bergen Regional Medical Center. The hospital set aside a number of detox beds for one week for people dealing with addiction who were arrested during the program.

Of the 48 overdose deaths reported in Bergen County so far this year, 40 are thought to be heroin and opioid-related, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office stated when reporting the results of the operation. There have been 158 reported heroin and opioid-related overdoses in the county so far this year.

There were 288 reported drug overdoses in Bergen County in 2015, of which 231 were heroin and opioid-related, Grewal stated in a news release. Of the 87 people who died, 71 were heroin and opioid-related.

In 2015, Garfield had the most amount of overdoses with 23. Lyndhurst was the next highest with 20. Fort Lee and Lodi each had 15 and Cliffside Park had 14, information provided by the prosecutor's office stated.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

Photos: The individuals charged in Operation Helping Hand, maps of where they live, where they were arrested, and where the 48 heroin and opioid overdoses this year have have occurred in Bergen County. Bergen County Prosecutor's Office