Cops Find $1M In Meth At West Orange Home, 2 Arrested: Police – West Orange, NJ Patch

WEST ORANGE, NJ — UPDATE: Federal authorities have taken over the prosecution of Brian Cheda-Hackembruch and Eduardo Martinez. Charges have been altered (see updated information). Our original article follows below.

Police shut down a “major drug manufacturing facility” in West Orange on Monday night, recovering nearly $1 million in methamphetamine, authorities said.

The bust took place at 1 Lorelei Road in West Orange and ended with the arrest of Brian Chedahackembruch, 23, who lives at the home, according to the Essex County Sheriff’s Office.

Another resident of the home, Eduardo Martinez, 39, was arrested Wednesday afternoon in Maplewood, authorities said.

The police raid came after a two-month investigation, and involved a task force of Essex County sheriff’s detectives and their peers from the Newark, Bloomfield, Irvington and West Orange police departments.

Acting on a search warrant, officers entered the home and apprehended the target of the investigation, Chedahackembruch, in his bedroom. During a search of the house, police found 4,450 grams of methamphetamine in liquid and crystal form, 96 ounces of gamma butyrolactone, a liquid used as an intermediate in the production of other chemicals, 74 grams of marijuana, a “wide assortment of narcotics paraphernalia” including butane torches, digital scales and plastic funnels, $3,840 in cash, four BB guns, a video surveillance system and bank deposit receipts “in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

Hazmat teams from the Nutley Police Department and NJ State Police responded to the scene due to the “toxicity” of the drugs, authorities said.

Following his arrest, Chedahackembruch complained of “physical discomfort” due to a recent medical condition. Emergency responders transported him to University Hospital in Newark, where he currently remains under guard, police said.

The Essex County Sheriff’s Office later announced that Martinez, who was initially reported “at large,” was apprehended without incident at 1 p.m. on Wednesday at a home on Raymond Terrace in Maplewood.

Chedahackembruch and Martinez were charged with three counts each of possession of CDS, possession of CDS with intent to distribute and possession of CDS with intent to distribute within 500 feet of a public park. They were also charged with maintaining a drug manufacturing facility, maintaining a fortified drug premises, possession of a weapon while committing a narcotics crime, possession of narcotics paraphernalia and conspiracy to violate New Jersey’s narcotics laws.

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