Police said they seized more than 600 envelopes of heroin, along with crack cocaine, codeine syrup, Oxycodone and other prescription pills
BLOOMFIELD - Three men were arrested Wednesday night after police found more than $10,000 in drugs and a loaded handgun in their vehicle, authorities said.
According to Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura and Bloomfield Police Director Sam Demaio, a task force comprised of officers from their departments was called to the area of Bloomfield Avenue and Grove Street after receiving complaints about drug transactions at a nearby Wendy's.
Shortly after arriving, officers watched as 26-year-old Irvington resident Bernardo Coleman exited a 2015 Toyota Camry and walked inside. After setting up at a table next to a window, he pulled out a black plastic bag.
Police stationed inside immediately announced their presence, and Coleman, a purported member of the Blood street gang, threw the bag to the floor to reveal approximately 600 glassine envelopes of heroin, Fontoura and Demaio said.
A subsequent patdown led to the discovery of Xanax and Suboxone tablets, police said.
After Coleman was taken into custody, officers ventured to the Toyota Camry still in the restaurant parking lot, where they found Newark residents Zakee Strickland and Hamid Patterson.
Fontoura and Demaio said both appeared to be hiding items inside the car, and later discovered a loaded .25-caliber semi-automatic handgun, along with various amounts of heroin, crack cocaine, a bottle of codeine syrup, Oxycodone and other prescription pills.
Authorities said the estimated street value of the drugs exceeded $10,000.
All three men were charged with multiple drug offenses, and Strickland was also booked on weapons offenses.
Strickland was ordered held on $250,000 bail, while Patterson and Coleman were issued $150,000 bonds.
Demaio attributed the arrests to his department's partnership with the sheriff's office, which he said regularly pays "huge dividends."
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