United States Drug Enforcement Administration

NEWARK, N.J. – A New York man was arrested in East Rutherford, New Jersey for possessing with intent to distribute approximately 70 kilograms of cocaine and 25 kilograms of fentanyl, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.

Alejandro Nouel Lajud, 39, of Yonkers, New York, is charged by complaint with one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl. He was arrested and had his initial court appearance on Dec. 5, 2022, before U.S. Magistrate Judge José R. Almonte and was detained.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

On Dec. 5, 2022, Lajud was stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike in East Rutherford while driving a tractor-trailer erratically. During a lawful search of the tractor-trailer, law enforcement officers discovered approximately 95 brick-shaped packages, each of which weighed approximately one kilogram. Approximately 70 of the packages contained suspected cocaine and approximately 25 contained suspected fentanyl.

The count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl carries a maximum potential penalty of life imprisonment and a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $10 million.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger, District of New Jersey, credited special agents and task force officers of the New York Strike Force, Group Z-43.  This investigation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations. The arrest was the result of an investigation by the New York Strike Force, a crime-fighting unit comprising federal, state and local law enforcement agencies supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force and the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.

The New York OCDETF Strike Force is housed at the DEA’s New York Division and includes agents and officers of the DEA; the New York City Police Department; the New York State Police; Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations; the U. S. Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; the U.S. Marshals Service; New York National Guard; U.S. Coast Guard; Port Washington Police Department; Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, and New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.