Essex County Cops Find $100K Of Cocaine In Uber Taxi – Newark, NJ Patch

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Essex County police officers seized $100,000 worth of cocaine from a car being used as an Uber taxi on Monday, authorities said.

Officers with the Essex County Sheriff’s Office discovered the cocaine during a “routine traffic stop” on the 100-block of Peshine Avenue in Newark on Monday evening, authorities stated.

The officers, who were conducting “quality-of-life operations” in the area, saw a double-parked 2015 Chevrolet Suburban with New York license plates obstructing traffic. The officers pulled up behind the SUV and activated their sirens and lights, but the vehicle didn’t move, authorities said.

When the officers got out of their car and approached the SUV, all four of the vehicle’s windows rolled down at the same time. And that’s when they allegedly saw the back-seat passenger, Dawan Brown, 33, of Newark, attempt to hide a backpack under the front seat of the vehicle.

Officers removed Brown from the car and searched the bag, which contained 19 plastic bags with a total of two kilograms of cocaine.

Essex County Sheriff’s officers said that the Uber driver wasn’t involved in the “narcotics conspiracy” and released him with a motor vehicle summons for double parking.

Authorities charged Brown with possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of CDS with intent to distribute, possession of CDS with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of the Belmont Runyon School and possession of CDS with intent to distribute within 500 feet of a public housing complex.

He was transported to the Essex County Correctional Facility and held pending a bail hearing, according to the Essex County Sheriff’s Office.

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