A 65-year-old Pennsylvania man was busted with 17,000 fentanyl pills during a Guttenberg traffic stop on Tuesday, Police Chief Frank Pelaez announced.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
On Tuesday, July 22nd, at about 12:17 p.m., detectives from the Guttenberg Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Unit were in the vicinity of John F. Kennedy Boulevard East and 69th Street when they observed a 2018 white Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross making an improper U-Turn in the middle of the intersection, Pelaez said in a statement.
After observing the Title 39 violations, the detectives conducted a motor vehicle stop on the white Mitsubishi.
Detectives approached the male driver of the vehicle, identified as Luis A. Valerio-Vargas, 65, of Allentown, Pennsylvania. During the stop, the driver explained that he had made a U-turn to find a parking spot.
He informed the detectives that he works in plumbing and construction and had traveled from Pennsylvania to pick up an individual near the Galaxy Towers to take him to a job site.
Afterwards, Valerio-Vargas said he was going to travel to the area of 98th Street and Bergenline Avenue, near a park, and pointed south toward the Town of West New York.
During the on-scene investigation, detectives requested a narcotics K-9 from the North Bergen Police Department to respond to the location of the motor vehicle stop.
Shortly thereafter, North Bergen PD K-9 Rex and his handler arrived to conduct a free-air sniff of the vehicle. K-9 Rex indicated there was a presence of narcotics within the vehicle.
At the conclusion of the investigation, it was discovered that Valerio-Vargas had approximately 17,000 circular shaped blue pills believed to contain fentanyl. He was arrested and transported to the Guttenberg PD for processing.
Valerio-Vargas was charged with manufacturing, distributing, or dispensing a Schedule I or II controlled dangerous substance (CDS), distribution of a CDS within 500 feet of public property, counterfeit drugs, distribution of a CDS within 1,000 feet of school property, possession of a CDS, possession of drug paraphernalia.
He was also issued four traffic summonses: careless driving, making an improper U-turn, failure to signal a turn, and possession of a CDS in a motor vehicle.
Valerio-Vargas was remanded to the Hudson County Correctional Center, pending his first appearance in Hudson County Superior Court in Jersey City.
“I want to commend the detectives of the Criminal Investigation Unit for their diligence, dedication, and professionalism, as well as their proactive approach to policing. These detectives successfully apprehended a significant threat to our community by preventing 17,000 pills, believed to contain fentanyl, from flooding our streets. This action has potentially saved hundreds of innocent lives,” Pelaez added.
“I cannot thank these detectives enough for their hard work day in and day out. I will continue to ensure that the Guttenberg Police Department maintains its proactive stance to keep our residents safe. I also want to take a moment and thank North Bergen Chief of Police Robert J. Farley Jr. and his K-9 Unit for their support and assistance during this incident.”
