Union County Residents Caught With $37,500 In Heroin, Cocaine

Two Union County residents caught with more than $37,500 in heroin, cocaine, and nearly $3,000 in cash last week have been charged with running a drug production facility.

Derlin Almanzar-Stewart, 35, and Jose Martinez III, 36, are each charged with first-degree maintaining a drug production facility, four related second-degree drug charges, and four related third-degree drug charges, acting Union County Prosecutor Grace Park stated.

Police initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle Almanzar-Stewart and Martinez were traveling in on Wednesday near the area of East Grand Street and Routes 1&9 in Elizabeth. Approximately 20 grams of cocaine, 30 grams of heroin, and nearly $700 in cash was seized during a search of the vehicle.

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A later search of a home on the 500 block of Maple Ave. in Elizabeth turned up an additional 36 grams of heroin, 7 packaged bricks of heroin containing 50 folds apiece, approximately $2,000 in cash, and packaging materials and other paraphernalia used for the processing and packaging of drugs. The total estimated street value of the seized drugs amounted to approximately $37,500, Prosecutor Park stated.

Almanzar-Stewart and Martinez are lodged in Union County Jail, with bail set at $200,000 apiece by state Superior Court Judge Regina Caulfield.

If convicted, the two suspects could face up to 30 years in a state prison. First-degree criminal charges typically result in sentences of 10 to 20 years in state prison, while second-degree crimes are punishable by 5 to 10 years.

The investigation was conducted by the Elizabeth Police Department, detectives with the Prosecutor’s Office’s Guns, Gangs, Drugs, and the Violent Crimes Task Force.

Photos courtesy of Mark Spivey, Union County Prosecutor’s Office.

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