LAWRENCE, MASS. (WHDH) - A Lawrence father is facing charges after his son found a large stash of drugs in his luggage and reported the discovery to police, authorities said.
Chief James Fitzpatrick said an 11-year-old boy found 212 grams of heroin and fentanyl in his 40-year-old father’s belongings, prompting a phone call to the city’s police department.
An arrest warrant was obtained for the Lawrence man and officers responded Wednesday to his home on Ferry Street. Officers searched the man’s luggage and found the drugs packed in multiple plastic bags, as well as several other empty bags, authorities said.
The suspect’s son told police that he had seen him conducting a drug deal earlier in the day. Officers estimated the drugs to be worth about $8,500.
“I commend this young man for being brave enough to come forward and report that these dangerous substances were in his home,” Fitzpatrick said. “It is frightening to consider that the drugs the boy found are strong enough to cause serious harm to full grown adults, merely by being in their presence, and to consider what could have happened had he not immediately called for help from law enforcement.”
The father, Yamil Mercado, 41, turned himself into police. He is charged with heroin trafficking and reckless endangerment of a child.
In court Friday, prosecutors told the judge that the boy knew his father had a history of selling drugs.
The boy is now in the care of family members. The Department of Children and Families is also investigating.
Mercado was ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing.
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