Malachai Brawner, 30, is charged with several crimes for alleged drug sales from an apartment on East State Street.
TRENTON -- A two-month drug investigation of a Trenton man yielded cash, a handgun, a vehicle and two quantities of pills - including ecstasy and opioid pills hidden in a Halls cough drop bag, authorities said.
Malachai Brawner The Mercer County Narcotics Taskforce concluded a two-month investigation of Malachai Brawner, 30, on Wednesday morning by executing a search warrant at an apartment in the 200 block of East State Street, the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office said.
Brawner was at the residence and taken into custody.
During an initial search of the apartment, officers found a digital scale and $1,165 in the master bedroom, the prosecutor's office said..
During the investigation, the task force had learned Brawner was storing drugs in the apartment building's basement/
During a search of the basement, officers found Halls cough drop bag behind an ottoman containging 40 grams of MDMA pills (ecstasy) and 28 Tramadol pills, the prosecutor's office said. Tramadol is an opioid painkiller.
Officers then found a defaced .22 caliber handgun and bullets under the stairs in the basement, the prosecutor's office said.
Brawner's Nissan Maxima was seized as drug proceeds.
The prosecutor's office said the street value of the pills was over $1,100.
Brawner was charged with multiple drug dealing charges, plus firearm possession charges including possessing a weapon as a convicted felon.
Records show Brawner has prior convictions dating to 2004 for weapon possession, assault and drug dealing in Gloucester and Mercer counties. He also has a prior address in Bordentown.
Assisting the task force were the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office's Special Investigations Unit, the Mercer County Sheriff's Office, New Jersey State Police, and police from Hamilton and Trenton.
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.