An Orange family - both parents, three adult children and two juvenile daughters - have been arrested on charges they were trafficking cocaine out of their home, Police Director Charles Cobbertt said yesterday.

He identified the suspects as Dreyfus Frederique, 57; his wife, Marie, 52; and their children, Magdalie, 22; Ricardo, 20; Gregory, 18; and two daughters, aged 14 and 17, all of North Essex Avenue.

Armed with a search warrant, police raided the Frederiques' home, near the Central Avenue School and off Main Street, shortly after 6 p.m. Wednesday, Cobbertt said.

Inside, he continued, police found 33 vials of crack hidden inside a videotape recorder "with a phony front."

The entire family was charged with illegal possession of drugs, possession of drugs with the intent to distribute and selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a school, Cobbertt said.

With the exception of Ricardo and Gregory, the family members were released on their own recognizance after being charged and booked at police headquarters, he added. They will remain free pending grand jury action.

Ricardo and Gregory Frederique, Cobbertt said, spend the night in jail and were released yesterday on $1,500 bail each after being arraigned before Municipal Court Judge Freddie Polhill.

The police director said authorities were alerted to drug trafficking at the Frederique home by neighbors.

A "three-to-four-week-long surveillance" was made, an undercover agent bought drugs there, and the investigation resulted in the raid, Cobbertt said.

The entire family's being arrested on narcotics charges "should serve as a lesson, to show just how a whole family can be affected by this type of illegal activity," he noted.

---

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

– Charles C. Cobbertt

Explore more of the inspiring stories of Charles C. Cobbertt.