Crime & Safety

Prosecutor's Heroin Probe Nets 2 Fair Lawn Residents

A Bergen County Prosecutor's Office-led probe into heroin distribution in Bergen and surrounding counties resulted in seven arrests in Fair Lawn and two arrests of Fair Lawn residents outside of the borough.

Based on incorrect information provided by law enforcement, an earlier version of this story contained the name of a Fair Lawn woman who was not charged in the heroin distribution investigation. The correct name of the woman who was charged is Victoria Zaretskaya.

Two Fair Lawn residents were among the 88 alleged buyers arrested over the course of , Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli announced Thursday.

Twenty-seventh Street resident Graham Dooner, 21, was arrested twice in Paramus over the course of one week in early March and Elaine Terrace resident Victoria Zaretskaya, 22, was arrested in April in Hackensack, according to a list of alleged buyers publicized by the prosecutor’s office.

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The multi-jurisdictional narcotics investigation, coordinated by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, nabbed approximately 120 individuals, ranging from drug traffickers moving heroin between Trenton and Paterson to suburban North Jersey buyers, Molinelli said.

The heroin probe was launched early this year in response to a more than 100 percent increase in Bergen County overdose deaths from 2011 to 2012, including a dozen deaths over a four-month span beginning last June.

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Authorities put eyes on Paterson after learning many of the Bergen County overdoses were linked to drug purchases made there.

Fair Lawn Interim Police Chief Glen Cauwels said that investigators used surveillance techniques to identify where heroin sales were taking place in Paterson and who was making the sales. Once a suspected dealer was identified, the task force used buyers to build the case against that dealer. 

“They actually saw the drug transactions happen, so then once the buyer was away from the drug location they would stop the car and detain the driver,” Cauwels said. “They detained the driver, questioned him to see who this drug dealer is, how many times have they bought from him. They’re all building a case against this specific guy.” 

Since multiple routes out of Paterson run through Fair Lawn, many of the task force’s buyer arrests occurred in the borough. Seven alleged buyers from as far out as Hewitt were arrested in Fair Lawn over the four-month investigation.

Cauwels said Fair Lawn officers often stop drivers who cut through the borough returning from drug scores across the river.

“They’ll see a motor vehicle violation or a suspicious conduct in the area, not necessarily thinking that they just bought drugs,” he said. “But after they stop the car, an interview of the driver reveals a suspicion that there’s drug activity in the car and then they’ll pursue it further.” 

Cauwels said buyers also frequently stop in Fair Lawn to use heroin after purchasing it in Paterson. 

“That’s why you see a lot of drug arrests at the CVS. They’ll pull over in the parking lot,” he said. “Officers will see a car parked away from everybody else, they’ll see multiple people in the car and activity in the car, so they’ll just roll up and see what’s going on and most likely they’ll see the person actually doing the drugs in the car and make the arrest.” 

Cauwels said he thinks the recent prosecutor’s office probe may help dampen the county’s heroin problem temporarily, but that drugs always seem to make a comeback.

“Drugs have been a problem for a long time and you never seem to solve the problem,” he said. “For a while it was Ecstasy, now it’s Molly, now it’s heroin. It seems like whenever one is going out there’s a new one coming in.”

Cauwels said the focus in Fair Lawn remains stopping any drug distribution that is occurring in town.

“That’s our main concern,” he said.

Click to view a list from the prosecutor's office of those charged with buying and dealing the heroin.

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