SPRINGFIELD, MASS. (WHDH) - Four people are facing drug trafficking charges after a massive seizure in Springfield that netted more than $260,000 worth of heroin, officials said.
An investigation into the trafficking and sale of heroin by state troopers assigned to Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni’s Office recently uncovered intelligence indicating a large shipment of the drug would be coming into the Springfield area, Gulluni’s Office said in a statement Wednesday.
Working with that information, troopers conducted a traffic stop on I-391 in the early morning hours Tuesday after witnessing a narcotics transaction at a Chicopee self-storage facility. After calling a K9 unit to the scene, 400 grams of raw uncut heroin with a street value of more than $100,000 was found in the vehicle, officials said.
Also recovered were about 600 ready for sale bags of heroin and approximately $12,174 in cash.
As a result of the discovery, state troopers arrested Fidel Gil, 41, of Hartford, and 23-year-old Paola Mercedes Reyes-Desantos.
Then, after executing six search warrants in connection with the bust, more drugs were found at a West Springfield hotel and the self-storage unit in Chicopee, according to police.
At the EconoLodge Inn in West Springfield, troopers found 1,900 bags of heroin and $1,200 cash.
At the Chicopee Self-Storage unit, investigators recovered another 30,000 bags of heroin with an estimated street value of $150,000.
The seizures resulted in the arrests of Christian Rivera, 22, of Springfield, and Anthony Guadalupe, 22.
All four suspects are expected to be arraigned Wednesday in Springfield District Court.
Gil, Reyes-Desantos, and Rivera are facing charges of trafficking heroin over 200 grams and conspiracy to violate a drug law.
Guadalupe will be arraigned on charges of trafficking between 18 and 36 grams of heroin and trafficking more than 200 grams of heroin.
“Aggressively fighting the opioid epidemic by disrupting and dismantling drug trafficking organizations here in Hampden County continues to be at the center of our two-pronged attack on the opioid epidemic,” Gulluni said in a statement. “My office will continue to prosecute drug traffickers to the fullest extent of the law while assisting those afflicted with addiction in finding the help and treatment they need.”
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