October 06, 2016
Police arrested a man Tuesday, alleging they found him in possession of 910 bags of heroin while conducting surveillance in a mall parking lot along the Jersey Shore.
While sitting in the Ocean County Mall parking lot, officials from the Toms River Police Department's Special Enforcement Team said they recognized Iquan Small, 23, of Seaside Heights, who had an active arrest warrant.
On Thursday, police alleged Small had more than $5,000 worth of heroin on him at the time. Officials allege that they found 160 wax folds of heroin and found an additional 15 bricks, or 750 wax folds, of heroin.
Small is being charged with possession of heroin as well as possession of more than one-half of heroin with intent to distribute, a second-degree offense.
He's being held in Ocean County Jail.
New Jersey is facing a heroin epidemic similar to the rest of the country. About half of health center patients in the state sought heroin and opioid treatment in 2014, the highest in about a decade, NJ.com reported. The state received $1 million in federal funding to expand treatment programs, the website reported.
In Pennsylvania, more than 3,300 died of a drug-related overdose in 2015. Heroin was found in about half of the victims' toxicology reports.
