file photo by Boyd Loving
November 17,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal announced the arrests of HECTOR RIVAS (DOB: 1/22/1992; single; and employed as a dishwasher) of 32 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ and VICTOR MARTINEZ (DOB: 4/15/1989; single; and unemployed) of 23 John F. Kennedy Drive, Bloomfield, NJ on charges of Distribution of Cocaine. The arrests are the result of a month-long joint investigation conducted by members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Chief Robert Anzilotti, the Ridgewood Police Department under the direction of Chief Jacqueline Luthcke, and the New Jersey State Police under the direction of Acting Superintendent Colonel Patrick J. Callahan.
In October 2017, members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Task received information that RIVAS was trafficking cocaine in Ridgewood, NJ. In the weeks that followed, RIVAS began distributing cocaine to undercover detectives.
On November 15, 2017, RIVAS negotiated the sale of eighty bags of cocaine, which were delivered to an undercover detective by MARTINEZ. RIVAS and MARTINEZ were placed under arrest following the drug transaction.
RIVAS and MARTINEZ were each charged with one count each of Distribution of Cocaine, N.J.S.A. 2C:35-5B(2), a 2nd degree crime; and one count of Distribution of Cocaine within a Drug-Free School Zone, N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7, a 3rd degree crime. RIVAS received additional charges of Distribution of Cocaine, N.J.S.A. 2C:35-5B(3), a 3rd degree crime; and Distribution of Cocaine within a Drug-Free School Zone, N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7, a 3rd degree crime for an October 23, 2017 sale. RIVAS and MARTINEZ have a first appearance Bergen County Central Judicial Processing Court for on Wednesday, November 29, 2017 at 8:30 A.M.
Prosecutor Grewal states that these charges are merely accusations and that the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and would also like to thank the Ridgewood Police Department and the New Jersey State Police for their assistance in this investigation.
