HACKENSACK, N.J. – A drug investigation took Bergen County detectives to Elizabeth, where they seized nearly 4½ pounds of raw heroin while arresting a man who they said tried to sell it to them.

Jhon Rodriguez-Acosta, 31, who is single and unemployed, was dealing in Bergen County, among other areas, when he arranged a sale to an undercover investigator, Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo said Thursday.

On Wednesday, a strike force executed search warrants at his Elizabeth apartment and a hair studio that he lives above, where Calo said they found the unpackaged heroin, as well as dozens of packages of heroin and Fentanyl and a small amount of crack – all worth a combined $160,000 on the street.

“Law enforcement officers also seized various cutting agents, $1,700 in cash, and heroin packaging materials,” the prosecutor said.

Rodriguez-Acosta remained held Thuresday in the Bergen County Jail pending a hearing in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack on various drug and conspiracy charges.

Calo thanked the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force – which includes agents and officers of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the NYPD and New York State Police – along with the Union County Prosecutor’s Office and Elizabeth police.

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