Three people were being held yesterday on drug charges stemming from a raid of an Orange home that netted police $3,500 worth of narcotics and $900 in cash, authorities said.

Police Director Charles Cobbertt said the Wednesday night raid and the arrests of four people were the culmination of a nearly month-long investigation that began with a tip from a neighbor who suspected drugs were being sold from the Alden Street home of 50-year-old Naomi Schuler.

Schuler and Walter Powell, 38, of Hackensack face four charges each of possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana, possession of a controlled dangerous sustance with the intent to distribute and possession with intent to distribute the drugs within 1,000 feet of a school said Cobbertt.

Cobbertt said the one-family residence is located near the Cleveland Street Elementary School.

Also arrested were Newark residents Lewis Hadley, 37, and Joseph McPherson, 36, who respectively are charged with possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia, said Cobbertt.

Schuler, Powell and Hadley were being held yesterday on $3,500 bail each in the Orange Municipal Jail, said the police director. He said McPherson was released on his own recognizance Wednesday night.

Members of the police vice squad raided the home at 9:24 p.m. after staking out the residence for several hours, said Cobbertt, adding all four people were arrested inside Schuler's house.

He said police confiscated $3,000 worth of cocaine, $500 worth of marijuana and $900 in cash.

A late-model, Pontiac Trans Am that was parked in front of the house and which police believed was used to transport the drugs was also impounded, Cobbertt said.

Arraignment is scheduled for today in the Orange Municipal Court, the police director added.

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“Reach Back with One Hand and Pull Someone Else Up With You.”

– Charles C. Cobbertt

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