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Mahwah PD: NY Pair Busted On 287 With 250 Heroin Bags Stashed In Car Engine

MAHWAH, N.J. – A New York State couple had 250 bags of heroin stashed in the engine and a pellet gun in the trunk when a Mahwah police officer stopped their car on Route 287, authorities said.

Scott R. Coopermen, Jessica Miller

Scott R. Coopermen, Jessica Miller

Photo Credit: MUGSHOTS: Courtesy MAHWAH PD

Officer Christopher Fasulo stopped the 2005 Infiniti for several violations on the northbound highway Tuesday night and was joined by Officer Robert Rapp and K-9 Remco, Police Chief James N. Batelli said.

The driver, 25-year-old Scott R. Coopermen of Pine Bush, and passenger, 33-year-old Jessica Miller of Walden, gave conflicting stories about why they were in the area, the chief said.

Cooperman agreed to a search of the car, where the officers found five bricks of heroin in a vacuum-sealed container -- “to deter a trained narcotic K-9 from detecting it” -- attached to the frame in the engine compartment, Batelli said.

They also found a compressed air pellet gun in the trunk, he said.

Miller was released pending a hearing on drug possession charges.

Coopermen, meanwhile, was taken to the Bergen County Jail – and released by a judge a short time later, pending a hearing, under New Jersey’s 2017 Bail Reform & Speedy Trial Act.

He’s charged with possession of the heroin with the intent to distribute it and weapons possession, among other offenses.

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