Saddle Brook Warrant Seizes ~90 Marijuana Plants; Resident Charged With Child Endangerment

SADDLE BROOK, N.J. — Saddle Brook detectives, backed by county narcotics, SWAT, and sheriff’s units, executed a court-authorized search warrant at a private residence on Friday, Sept. 25, and seized approximately 90 marijuana plants, Police Chief John A. Zotollo Jr. said. Daniel J. Lousada, 39, of Saddle Brook, was charged with first-degree maintaining and operating a controlled dangerous substance facility, first-degree manufacturing marijuana, and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child. He was remanded to the Bergen County Jail pending a first appearance in Bergen County Superior Court in Hackensack.

Charges are accusations. Lousada is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

What Saddle Brook PD put on the record

According to statements attributed to Chief Zotollo and carried by local outlets on Sept. 28, Saddle Brook detectives opened a narcotics investigation in August and determined that the occupant of a private residence was involved in illegal drug activity.

On Friday, Sept. 25, detectives executed a court-authorized search warrant at that residence with assistance from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotic Task Force, the Bergen County Regional SWAT Team, and the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office, Zotollo said.

Investigators located and seized approximately 90 marijuana plants and “various items commonly used to maintain a controlled dangerous substance facility,” police said. No public statement released a street address, an exact plant count beyond “approximately 90,” a catalog of the facility equipment, or any identifying details about a child or children.

Lousada was charged with:

• First-degree maintaining and operating a controlled dangerous substance facility;
• First-degree manufacturing marijuana; and
• Second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.

He was taken to the Bergen County Jail pending his first appearance in Superior Court in Hackensack, authorities said.

BCPO check — assisting, not the press release

A check of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office press-releases hub and WordPress search on Sept. 30, 2026, found no standalone BCPO release naming Lousada or this Saddle Brook grow seizure. BCPO appears in the public narrative as an assisting agency (Narcotic Task Force), not as the author of the charging announcement. The primary spine for this package is therefore Saddle Brook PD under Chief Zotollo, as quoted in contemporaneous coverage.

New Jersey’s statute on maintaining or operating a CDS production facility (N.J.S.A. 2C:35-4) treats marijuana manufacturing at a facility of more than five pounds or ten plants as a first-degree crime — context for why police frame ~90 plants as a “facility” case. That statutory note is background only; it does not prove the charges.

What fits — and what still doesn’t

Who benefits from the public frame? A multi-agency warrant story gives Saddle Brook PD a visible win after a weeks-long probe, with county SWAT and narcotics on the entry. Readers get a plant count, three charge degrees, and a jail remand. What the public still does not get is the child-welfare substance behind the second-degree count.

What doesn’t fully fit a tidy “grow-house bust” headline:

• Child endangerment without public detail. Police announced a second-degree endangering count but have not publicly stated how many children, ages, relationship to Lousada, whether DCPP (Child Protection and Permanency) is involved, or what conditions at the residence allegedly endangered a child. Bergen TV is not inventing those facts.
• No BCPO press release. County narcotics helped execute the warrant, yet BCPO did not issue its usual named charging release — unusual for first-degree CDS cases that BCPO often owns in the headline. Whether that reflects a local-lead case, timing, or something else is unanswered.
• “Approximately 90” and “various items.” The plant figure is approximate; the facility gear is undescribed. Exact weight, grow rooms, electrical load, and distribution evidence (if any) are not in the public police statements reviewed.
• Address withheld. Consistent with protecting a residence that may involve minors — but it also means neighbors and readers cannot independently place the raid.
• Court status open. As of research on Sept. 30, 2026, no public update confirming the Superior Court first-appearance outcome, detention decision, or release conditions was located. Police statements from Sept. 28 still described him as remanded pending that appearance.

Legal cannabis context (careful): New Jersey allows licensed cannabis businesses; unlicensed manufacturing and CDS production-facility charges remain criminal. Presence of legal dispensaries in the region does not legalize a private residential grow charged as a first-degree facility. This package does not equate licensed retail with the allegations against Lousada.

Open questions

• What was the result of Lousada’s first appearance / any detention hearing in Hackensack?
• Will SBPD or BCPO release a fuller inventory, statute citations, or complaint numbers?
• What is the public factual basis for the child-endangerment count (without over-identifying minors)?
• Is DCPP involved, and is that status public?
• Why no BCPO standalone press release despite Narcotic Task Force assistance?
• Can BCSO provide a rights-cleared booking photo for publication?