Eight people were arrested and more than a half-million dollars worth of narcotics were seized in the culmination of a "fast-moving" investigation into drug trafficking in eastern New Jersey, police and prosecutors said Tuesday.
Armed with several warrants, police raided homes in several towns on Friday night and arrested five men and three women on charges ranging from racketeering to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.
Investigators said they found a makeshift heroin mill at a residence on Clark Place in Elizabeth, where most of the drugs were found.
Inside that residence, investigators also found two drug presses, respirator masks, scales and thousands of empty "folds" used for packaging heroin, authorities said.
Police seized about a half-kilogram of raw heroin, 7,700 packaged bricks of heroin, more than a kilogram of cocaine and a half-kilogram of a designer drug, commonly called "molly," authorities said. They also confiscated roughly $63,500 in cash.
The three-week investigation was led by the Union County Prosecutor's Office and coordinated by the FBI and Elizabeth Police Department, with assistance from several area law enforcement agencies.
