Two Busted, Pound Of Heroin, $16,000 Seized In GWB Stop

FORT LEE, N.J. – Bergen County prosecutor’s detectives seized a pound of heroin and $16,000 in alleged drug proceeds while arresting two New York City men at the George Washington Bridge.

Francisco Batista, Cesar Mercedes-Paulino
Photo Credit: *MUGSHOTS: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR*

Jerry DeMarco

09/08/2017 3:09 p.m.

Detectives stopped their 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan at the upper level toll plaza on Tuesday and found the heroin stashed in an electronically-operated compartment, Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal said Friday.

They arrested Francisco Batista, a 23-year-old self-employed construction worker from Manhattan, and Cesar Mercedes-Paulino, 42, of the Bronx, who Grewal said is unemployed, on drug and money-laundering charges.

A judge ordered both held in the Bergen County Jail pending a detention hearing in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.

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