Two drug traffickers from out of state who were caught in North Bergen with 40 kilograms of heroin this summer were sentenced to 17 and six years, respectively, in state prison, state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced.Â
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Jesus Carrillo-Pineda, 31, of Philadelphia, P.A., was sentenced on Friday to 10 years in state prison after being charged with possession of heroin with intent to distribute and a concurrent sentence of seven years in prison for possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute, Grewal said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Daniel Vasquez, 28, of Somerton, A.Z., was sentenced on Wednesday to six years in state prison on a charge of possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute, authorities said.
Carrillo-Pineda and Vasquez are two of the four drug traffickers that were arrested by NJ State and North Bergen Police in late June.
The seizure of 45 kilos of fentanyl – 40 kilos seized in North Bergen, together with five kilos seized in a related search in Willingboro – was the largest seizure ever in New Jersey.
“Many lives were undoubtedly saved as a result of this record-setting fentanyl seizure by the New Jersey State Police,†Grewal said in a statement.
“The 100 pounds of fentanyl trafficked into our state by these drug dealers could have generated enough lethal doses to kill the entire populations of New Jersey and New York City combined.”
“Because dealers use this super-potent opioid to boost heroin and create counterfeit oxy pills, drug users are left to play a deadly game of Russian roulette each time they give way to their addiction,” he added.
Grewal also vowed to “fight the opioid epidemic on every front” by continuing to prosecute “major drug traffickers” and “crooked doctors who indiscriminately prescribe pain pills for profit.”
The 45 kilos – or nearly 100 pounds – of fentanyl seized by the New Jersey State Police in this investigation could have yielded over 18 million lethal doses, since a dose as small as two to three milligrams can be fatal, the AG’s office said.
