Bergen Authorities Seize $1.8M Cocaine Following Stop: Prosecutor

(Editor's note: one person's name has been removed from this article as they showed Patch documentation saying the case against them had been disposed of.)

Authorities discovered $1.8 million worth of cocaine in a car following a traffic stop conducted in South Hackensack Saturday, said Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal.

The discovery was made as part of a joint investigation by the prosecutor’s office Narcotic Task Force, the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department, and the Palisades Park Police Department, Grewal said.

Authorities pulled over the vehicle in South Hackensack. During the stop, authorities found the driver was in possession of approximately 14 kilograms of cocaine, Grewal said. The cocaine had an estimated wholesale value of $500,000 and an estimated street value of $1.8 million, Grewal said.

As part of the investigation, authorities executed a search warrant at Edison Saldivar-Valdez’s Palisades Park home as part of the investigation, the prosecutor said. Authorities found money wrappers and a machine used to detect counterfeit money at the residence.

Saldivar-Valdez, 32, was charged with possession with intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance, namely cocaine, in a quality greater than five ounces, a first-degree crime. He was charged with the same offense, but in the second degree as well.

Saldivar-Valdez was remanded to the Bergen County Jail in lieu of $150,000 bail.

Edison Saldivar-Valdez, 32/Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office