A male suspect was arrested this morning at his South 10th Street residence by Essex County sheriff’s detectives on weapons and narcotics charges.
According to a statement released by Sheriff Armando Fontoura, officers from his department’s Fugitive Squad served a Temporary Restraining Order on Jahid Vauters, 30, on a domestic violence complaint. The TRO also allowed the officers to search the Vauters’ apartment as he was suspected to be in possession of a weapon.
“In the suspect’s bedroom, our detectives discovered two shoeboxes. One of the boxes contained a 9mm, Smith & Wesson semi-automatic handgun with a high capacity magazine that was fully loaded with illegal hollow-point bullets,” Sheriff Fontoura said.
“The box also contained a .357 caliber Ruger revolver which was also loaded with hollow-point bullets. From the second shoebox, our officers seized 4,250 heroin-filled glassine envelopes, stamped ‘HIGH DEFINITION’ in red ink, and 135 grams of ‘crack’ cocaine.”
Officials say the street value of the narcotics is $50,000.
Police say Vauters was initially charged with two counts each of the unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of CDS with intent to distribute and possession of CDS with intent to distribute within 1000 feet of North Star Academy.