On July 26, 2023, Attorney General Matthew J. Patkin announced that about three and a half pounds of suspected fentanyl powder and about 1,000 suspected fentanyl pills were seized. A search warrant was issued and executed in Paterson. The drugs seized had a street value close to $1 Million, and the suspect is alleged to have been disturbing drugs in bulk.
On June 27, 2023, Pedro Rodriguez Avalo, 30, of Paterson, was arrested and charged with one count of first-degree operating and maintaining a controlled-dangerous substance production facility, two counts of second-degree possession with intent to distribute CDS, one count of third-degree possession with intent to distribute CDS within 1,000 feet of school property, and other narcotics-related offenses following the search of a residence on Lily Street in the area of North 7th Street in Paterson.
Around May of 2023, Rodriguez was suspected of distributing large amounts of fentanyl pills throughout Paterson, which is when the New Jersey State Police began their investigation. Probable cause was later established, and a search warrant of the alleged drug production facility was executed. This facility was located within 1,000 feet from the B.J. Wilkerson Memorial Child Development Center on Haledon Avenue in Paterson.
Rodriguez was arrested about three weeks after a man from Paterson was arrested for drug possession charges. The Paterson Police Department seized over $100,000 worth of narcotics in connection with an alleged drug distribution scheme out of a residence on Chadwick Street, which is a block away from St. Joseph’s University Medical Center.
The charges against the defendants in these cases are merely accusations, and are innocent until proven guilty.
