A woman and two men were arrested in connection with a months-long drug investigation after authorities recovered about $16,000 worth of MDMA, or "Molly," from one New Jersey home and a significant amount of the substance used to synthesize the club drug at another, officials said Thursday.
Police executed a search warrant at the Fort Lee home of Alejanda Arbelaez, 26, and Angel Tejada, 33, and seized 1,000 grams of the chemical Ethylone, which is often used to make Molly, at a street value of $40,000, authorities said. Prosecutors say $112,000 was also recovered.
A second search warrant was authorized for the Edgewater home of 31-year-old Fernando Bautista as part of the three-month investigation. When police arrived, Bautista allegedly threw a bag out of his window, which overlooks the Hudson River. It dropped near the edge of the river, and authorities were able to recover it. They say it contained a large amount of Molly, and upon searching Bautista's home, they found another 400 grams of the party drug worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Bautista was arrested without incident April 1 and charged with possession with intent to distribute and tampering with physical evidence; he was remanded to the Bergen County jail in lieu of bail.
Tejada turned himself into authorities April 2 and has also been remanded, as was Arbelaez. Tejada and Arbelaez, who was arrested March 30, both were charged with money laundering; Arbelaez also faces drug charges.
It wasn't clear if any of the three suspects had attorneys.
