HOBOKEN--Police raided a Hoboken strip mall on Friday in order to take down what they say was a thriving open-air drug market.

Eighteen people were arrested for selling marijuana, heroin and crack outside the West Side Plaza, a strip mall on Jackson Street, Hoboken police Chief Kenneth Ferrante told NJ Advance Media. Police arrested 14 people on Friday afternoon and one man on Wednesday in connection with the drug sales, he said. A majority of the people arrested were outside the strip mall at the time of the raid. After police announced 15 arrests late on Friday, three more men were arrested near the Hoboken Housing Authority in connection with drug sales outside the strip mall, Ferrante said.

"I was disturbed to hear the accounts of residents explaining how West Side Plaza was no longer safe for children, seniors and the rest of the good people of the Hoboken Housing Authority," Ferrante said in a statement. "Tonight, West Side Plaza is much safer as many who were making that area unsafe have been put behind bars."

The arrests followed a two-month investigation into complaints of drug dealers outside restaurants and businesses along the plaza, he said. The first arrest came on Wednesday. Police arrested Orlando Martinez Jr., 23, in his Clinton Street home for allegedly possessing a slew of drugs, including marijuana and heroin, as well as $30,000 in cash.

The remaining 14 arrests followed on Friday afternoon and featured some familiar faces for police. James Fields, 27, of Jersey City, has been arrested multiple times this year for assaulting store owners at 301 Jackson Street, police said. He was also arrested in February for allegedly trying to conceal a package of heroin and crack cocaine in his buttocks.

Ferrante said that there wasn't a single leader of the drug market, and there wasn't even a feeling of competition amongst the dealers. They sold drugs out in the open to a fairly ample stream of customers, he said.

The Hoboken Police Department, the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office, the Hudson County Sheriff's Office, NJ Transit police and agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency worked together on the case.

The following people were arrested in connection with the 'drug market':

Kishaun Gilyard, 20, of Hoboken

Jarell D. Lee, 23, of Hoboken

Dyshawn G. Ladson, of Jersey City

John P. Ramos, 42, of Jersey City

James Fields, 27, of Jersey City

Julio Fermaint, 22, of Hoboken

Stacey Johnson, 44, of Hoboken

Julian Braxton, of Hoboken

George Pickett, of Hoboken

Larry Ladson, of Jersey City

Curtis Jefferies, of Hoboken

Ray Latimer Jr, of Hoboken

Armando Roman, of Hoboken

Lavada Evans, of Hoboken

Andrew Wheeler, of Hoboken

Shaquil D. Huggins, of Jersey City

Kathryn Brenzel may be reached at kbrenzel@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @katiebrenzel. Find NJ.com on Facebook