Hoboken Police arrested a suspected marijuana dealer from Jersey City arrested near the Hoboken Terminal. The police got some laughs after the man insisted the police had no right to arrest him because he was a citizen of the “sovereign” state of New Jersey. However, police had every right to arrest him and after a search the defendant was subsequently charged with Intent to Distribute Marijuana within 1000 feet of a School, Possession of Marijuana, Drug Paraphernalia, and Obstructing the Administration of the Law according to the police report. Charges such as these are not uncommon because Hoboken has a large population and busy police force with large nearby urban areas such as Jersey City.
The “bust” happened because a store owner on Hudson Place became nervous called the police because a customer was suspicious and wandering in and out of the store and then continued to linger around outside. This is actually pretty common because store owners are constantly on the look out for a suspected Robbery. When the police arrived they began questioning people nearby including the defendant. When they asked what the defendant was doing still standing nearby the store, he stated that he was waiting for a friend and he displayed a business card from a Hoboken-based investment services company to the police. However, the cops quickly became more interested when they smelled the odor of marijuana coming from his body and began to search him. Many people mistakenly believe that police cannot just search any one on the street but they are in fact allowed to briefly detain suspects for investigative questioning and the smell of marijuana then gives them probable cause to search a defendant for possible drugs. The search turned up a large plastic bag containing three smaller bags with marijuana, three glassine baggies with marijuana ready for street sale, as well as another 22 empty baggies and a digital weighing scale according to the report. Police also found in $546 in cash which was confiscated and will most likely be forfeited because it was found with the drugs and assumed to be profits of illegal activity. After being processed the defendant was then sent to Hudson County jail in Kearny on a $10,000 bail with a 10 percent cash.
