Heroin, Handgun Found During Palisades Parkway Stop

PEARL RIVER, NY — A Bronx man faces weapon and drug charges in Orangetown after an arrest by New York State Police on the Palisades Parkway.

State Police said Alfonso Cortez, 37, was operating a vehicle that was stopped for NY State Vehicle and Traffic Law violations on the parkway and was believed to possess a quantity of marijuana.

A subsequent search of the vehicle resulted in the seizure of an illegally possessed, loaded, Smith and Wesson 9mm semi-automatic handgun, three magazines and numerous rounds of 9mm ammunition, police said.

They allege Cortez also had heroin in the car. He was additionally charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree.

He is currently awaiting arraignment in the Town of Orangetown Court, police said Wednesday morning.