Crime & Safety

Cranford Drug Dealer Busted After 2-Month Probe, Cops Say

Shi 'Michael' Xu, 22, was charged with distribution of marijuana and narcotics during raid of his home.

A Cranford drug dealer had a large amount of marijuana, prescription medicines and narcotics paraphernalia when authorities raided his home Friday, police said.

Shi “Michael” Xu, 22, was charged Friday with distribution of marijuana, distribution of Schedule I narcotics and other related charges following a two-month investigation.

Detective John Swandrak launched the investigation after receiving information in March that Xu was involved in distributing drugs from his residence, Detective Sgt. Gerard Quinn said.

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Following undercover investigations and surveillance of Xu’s home, the department was able to obtain a search warrant that was executed Friday at about 4 p.m., according to police.

Members of the Cranford Police Investigative Division recovered more than 30 Ziploc bags of suspected marijuana, a quantity of suspected MDMA, suspected prescription drugs, such as Suboxone and Xanax, assorted narcotics paraphernalia believed to be related to distribution and more than $300 cash, a release from the Cranford Police Department outlined.

Find out what's happening in Cranfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Xu was charged with possession of marijuana (under 50 grams), possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of Schedule I narcotics with intent to distribute, three counts of possession of Schedule I narcotics and possession of narcotics paraphernalia.

“The Cranford Police Department has always had, and will continue to have, an aggressive approach to narcotics enforcement,” Cranford Police Chief Eric G. Mason said.  “We will expend every effort to eradicate this behavior from our neighborhoods.”

Xu was processed and released pending his Superior Court arraignment on Wednesday.

Xu was charged in May with possession of a controlled dangerous substance when pulled over by Roselle Park Police. He was found with numerous Oxycodone pills hidden in his sock, NJ.com reported.

In January 2010,. Patch previously reported that Cranford PD conducted a three-month investigation on Xu at that time and discovered the marijuana, pills and cash while executing a search warrant at the his home, police said.


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