“ESSEX COUNTY DRUG BAZAAR”

In the fall of 2005, members of the New Jersey State Police and the Essex County Prosecutor’s Narcotics Unit began a co-operative drug investigation into the distribution of illegal drugs taking place at the Bradley Court Housing Complex. Authorities said the investigation was dubbed “Operation Chainsaw” and included 30 undercover drug purchases made at the complex.

During the course of the investigation officers had made a series of smaller drug sweeps in the area, including one that netted a Tenafly councilman who pulled up in a Corvette to buy heroin. They had also raided the stash houses of people who supply the local drug trade.

The investigation culminated on June 13, 2006 with a mid-morning raid at Bradley Court that involved more than 100 state troopers, who surrounded the complex and grabbed people named in arrest warrants stemming from the investigation. People who authorities described as drug dealers were handcuffed and corralled onto a basketball court in the middle of the courtyard as police and news helicopters flew overhead and troopers sealed off local streets. Arrested were 21 people at the complex, in addition to nine others charged by authorities that were already in jail on unrelated cases. In addition to the arrest, several search warrants were conducted at complex apartments, which resulted in the seizure of 3,700 vials of cocaine, 8,000 decks of heroin, three firearms and $30,000 in cash. The housing complex had been described as one of the biggest drug bazaars on Newark's west side. It was viewed as a virtual shopping mall to buy and sell drugs.

The NJNEOA applauds the Essex County Narcotics Task Force, The Newark Police Department and the New Jersey State Police on their combined efforts during the investigation in restoring a drug free neighborhood to its residents.