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Passaic County sheriff's narcotics detectives were following up a tip about drug deals on Keen Street when they saw Eric T. Mckenzie, 38, get into a black Kia around 5:30 p.m. Monday, Sheriff Richard H. Berdnik said.
Mckenzie drove to 6th Avenue and East 19th Street and met with a man identified as Brian T. Gilligan, 49, of Hawthorne, Berdnik said.
Each went in opposite directions after a drug deal, with detectives following, he said.
Gilligan swallowed three Oxycodone pills after detectives stopped him -- which he later admitted and was charged with destroying evidence for, the sheriff said.
Meanwhile, other detectives grabbed Mckenzie, who smelled of raw marijuana and was carrying a knotted bag of pot, 29 Oxycodone pills and more than $1,000 in cash, he said.
Detectives returned to 117 Keen Street with a warrant, Berdnik said.
There they found weapons and an estimated $20,000 worth of drugs:
A loaded Smith and Wesson .38-caliber revolver reported stolen out of Chesapeake City, MD;
- A loaded Jimenez Arms Inc. .380-caliber semiautomatic handgun;
- A Taurus PT-738 .380-caliber semiautomatic handgun;
- More than two pounds of marijuana;
- More than three ounces of crack;
- 13 grams of powdered cocaine;
- 40 envelopes of heroin;
- 230 Xanax pills, 193 Oxycodone pills and 105 Endocet pills;
- Bullets;
- Drug paraphernalia;
- $24,238 in alleged drug proceeds.
They charged Mckenzie with 26 drug and weapons offenses, including being a convicted felon in possession of firearms.
"Any time drugs, three guns and a large amount of money can be taken off our streets, it’s a good outcome," Berdnik said. "I want to commend the detectives involved in this operation."
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