Synthetic Marijuana (K2) Narcotics Arrests

August 31, 2017

Contact: Sheriff Armando Fontoura (973) 621-4105

Newark – A father and son team of alleged drug dealers along with a third man were arrested Wednesday afternoon by a law enforcement task force comprised of Essex County sheriff’s detectives and Bloomfield and Irvington police officers which resulted in multiple narcotics charges being filed against the trio.

Sheriff Armando Fontoura stated that the task force yesterday executed a search warrant for Mike’s Deli and Grocery, located at 360 Bloomfield Avenue in the city’s North Ward.

“Detained at the scene while the store was searched were Maher Aldabbas, 55 of Clifton, his son, Mouhammed Aldabbas, 27 of Newark, and their employee, Ronald Piacenza, 47 of Belleville,” Sheriff Fontoura said.  “Our search yielded nearly 5,300 grams of synthetic marijuana, or ‘K2’ as it is known on the streets, which had been secreted in various locations throughout the deli.  $376 in currency and drug packaging materials were also seized.”

The street value of the narcotics is in excess of $50,000.

Fontoura noted that in the past five months that more 50 overdose cases of synthetic cannabinoids, requiring hospitalization of the victims, have been reported in Newark.

“Many of the victims appear to come from our local homeless population,” Fontoura noted.  “These manufactured drugs affect the brain much more powerfully than marijuana and their effects are unpredictable and, in some cases, severe or even life-threatening.”

Maher and Mouhammed Aldabbas were both charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of CDS with intent to distribute, possession of drug paraphernalia and conspiracy to violate New Jersey’s narcotics laws.

Piacenza was found to the subject of an open drug warrant issued by the Newark municipal court.

All three suspects were lodged at the county jail where the Aldabbas’s await a bail hearing and Piacenza awaits a court appearance on his prior drug charge.