$55,000 Worth of Cocaine Seized From City Man

A New Brunswick man has been arrested after police seized approximately 10 ounces of cocaine valued at more than $55,000.

According to a press release from the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office, Hugo Manuel Sanchez Luengas, 32, was arrested after the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Organized Crime and Narcotics Task Force were tipped off that he was allegedly expected to be delivering cocaine on May 31 to a parking lot on Hamilton Street in Somerset.

Police said Sanchez Luengas was spotted entering the lot in a black Chevrolet Trailblazer at 8 p.m. and was approached and questioned by police.

He gave them permission to search the vehicle, where authorities found over five ounces of cocaine, stored in a plastic Ziplock bag and in an eyeglass case containing 101 baggies of the drug, according to the release.

Police also seized $697 from Sanchez Luengas, according to the release.

Authorities continued a search at his Redmond Street home, where they seized the following items, according to the release:

• A plastic shopping bag containing CDS paraphernalia (one digital scale, one metal bottle, two pairs of scissors, one knife and empty Ziploc baggies).
• One large Ziploc plastic bag containing a large quantity of cocaine.
• A box containing one Ziploc bag containing 190 baggies of cocaine and three additional bags located in the box separately containing 34, 111 and 53 baggies of cocaine.
• A loaded Star .32 caliber semi-automatic handgun.
•  $786 in cash

The total amount of cocaine taken from the house was over five ounces, and the street value of all cocaine seized is approximately $55,000, according to the release.

Sanchez Luengas is being held in the Somerset County Jail on $500,000 bail, cash only, according to the release.