Men Arrested In Kearny Cocaine, Fentanyl Sale: Federal Prosecutors

KEARNY, NJ — Men from North Bergen and Newark were arrested this week after they agreed to meet in Kearny to sell cocaine and fentanyl, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger announced Wednesday.

The two men agreed to meet at an undisclosed location in Kearny this past Monday, Dec. 19 to sell the drugs, approximately one kilogram of cocaine and 100 grams of fentanyl, said federal prosecutors. Fentanyl is the synthetic, lab-made painkiller that can be lethal in even small doses.

They were arrested shortly after they arrived at an agreed-upon location in Kearny to complete the sale. Federal prosecutors and FBI agents did not say how they made the arrests.

Carlos Ovidio Gonzalez, 35, of Newark, and Hector Martinez, 31, of North Bergen were both charged with one count of conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl.

After their arrests, a search of Gonzalez’s Newark apartment also uncovered two loaded firearms, an unloaded firearm, ammunition, drug packaging materials, and suspected heroin, cocaine, oxycodone and Xanax pills. Gonzalez is also charged with one count of being a previously convicted felon in possession of three firearms and ammunition.

Gonzalez had previously been convicted in Morris County of first-degree drug distribution, second-degree weapons possession during a controlled substance offense, and second-degree gun charges, and was sentenced in 2009 to 30 years in prison. It remains unknown why he was out of prison.