There were also drug arrests in connection with the DMV fraud.
According to North Bergen Detective Joseph Gener, the North Bergen police made three arrests in connection with the sting operation, all involving fraudulent temporary motor vehicle license plate tags and insurance cards, as well as significant drug possession.
Gener said that after receiving a tip from an informant, police in the three municipalities, as well as the Prosecutor's Municipal Task Force, set up a month-long investigation, trying to set up and purchase some of the illegal temporary plates, called tags, from RP Printing, located at 2321 Kennedy Blvd. in North Bergen.
"The informants were not necessarily involved in the case," Gener said. "We acted upon the information collected. I don't know if any of the informants were somehow involved."
After a month, the police decided that they had enough evidence to arrest 35-year-old Ricardo Perez of Jersey City, the owner and proprietor of the printing company. Police said that at his business, they confiscated 25 temporary license plates from New Jersey, another 20 fraudulent tags from Pennsylvania and one fake plate from Maryland. They also confiscated hologram paper used to make the tags, as well as an undisclosed quantity of blank insurance cards that were also fake.
Police also confiscated computer equipment and numerous other documents that were used in the production of the phony plates and tags.
Police said that upon a search of a residence at 6600 Broadway in West New York, police seized three pounds of marijuana with a street value of $2,000, as well as 80 grams of cocaine, with a street value of $8,000. They also found a bullet proof vest, drug paraphernalia and $1,700 in cash.
Prior to those searches, undercover police were able to purchase two pounds of marijuana at the RP Printing site, they said.
Perez was arrested and charged with forgery, possession of forgery devices, criminal simulation and possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute. He was brought to Hudson County Jail in Kearny and held in lieu of $75,000 bail, with no cash exemption.
Two other people were arrested at the 6600 Broadway address, namely 27-year-old Rafael del Rosario Sanchez and 28-year-old Twanna Andia. They were charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and possession with a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute, police said, with Andia charged to a lesser extent. Sanchez is being held in lieu of $75,000 bail, with Andia's bail set at $25,000.
A motor vehicle, a Toyota Matrix, was also seized as part of the investigation.
Gener said that there are plenty of similar operations, with printers producing fraudulent motor vehicle documents, throughout the area.
"It's a major concern," Gener said. "We get these types of operations from time to time. This is not the first of its kind. Usually, they sell the documents in an illegal fashion, when someone doesn't want to get proper insurance or perhaps they want illegal documents for a stolen vehicle. There is a broad range of reasons why these documents are wanted. We're just fortunate to get to this operation before it became more widespread."
Gener applauded the efforts of all the departments involved in the case.
"It took a lot of man hours, but working in conjunction with each other, we were able to solve the case," Gener said. "Everyone did a great job."
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