Drug Dealers Charged, Wayne Officers Seize Opioids And Marijuana: PD

WAYNE, NJ — Detectives arrested two suspected drug dealers after watching them make multiple transactions around Wayne Township last week, police said.

The Wayne Police Special Operations Unit had been investigating illegal drug activity for several months, after a concerned resident submitted a tip. Officers have charged 50-year-old Louis C. Colao of Prospect Park and 45-year-old Armando Verdina of Paterson with drug possession and distribution charges.

Police said that Colao, who faces more than 20 charges, was trying to sell drugs within 1,000 feet of a school.

Members of Special Operations and the Investigative Division set up surveillance and arrest operations to catch the two men on July 24, with the assistance of officers from the Patrol Division as well as the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, Haledon Police Department, and Pompton Lakes Police Department.

In a news release, Detective Captain Dan Daly of Wayne PD said that the detectives saw Colao "engaged in drug sales in multiple parking lots" before arresting him and seizing the drugs. Officers also took the drug buyers into custody.

Verdina was arrested for distributing unregulated marijuana, Daly added.

Police continued surveillance and searches at addresses in Prospect Park and Paterson and found more drugs, including 141 Suboxone strips, 83 Oxycodone Pills, two Xanax pills, 17 Buprenorphone-Suboxone Pills, and five ounces of marijuana —along with "$8,055 in cash, drug packaging and documentation related to illegal drug sales."

Colao faces 23 charges, including both possession and distribution of a controlled dangerous substance, possession with intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession with intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance within 1,000 feet of a school.

Verdina faces two charges, police said: Distribution of a controlled dangerous substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Both were charged and released pending further court appearances.