FOXBORO, MASS. (WHDH) - A Foxborough man is facing serious charges after police say officers seized more than 1,000 grams of the powerful drug fentanyl early Friday morning from an apparent drug lab inside a luxury apartment complex in the town.
Officers responded around 2:20 a.m. to a unit at The Lodge complex at 400 Foxborough Boulevard after a 911 call reporting a disturbance.
Upon arrival, police say Stephan Pena met officers at the door. They say Pena tried to shut the officers out before pushing one of them. When officers went to handcuff him, Pena allegedly resisted, assaulted them and tried to flee up a flight of stairs.
“They were initially obstructed by Mr. Pena, who assaulted one of the officers. A struggle ensued,” Police Chief William Baker said.
Officers followed Pena up the stairs to the second floor, where police say several people had jumped off a balcony. They then noticed a powdery substance on the floor, which was believed to be fentanyl, and other drug paraphernalia in plain view. Baggies containing the substance were said to be in view below the balcony as well.
“It appears as though they had bailed out over the balcony from the second floor down on to the ground and escaped,” Baker said.
Police say a DEA lab team was called in around 8:20 a.m. after a search warrant was obtained. A sweep of the apartment yielded more than 1,000 grams of fentanyl, according to an initial estimation. Drug lab equipment was also taken in for examination.
“There were large quantities of a white powdered substance that we believe to be fentanyl visible on the stove top, in the bathtub and a variety of other places in the apartment,” Baker said.
Pena, 23, was arrested. He was arraigned Friday in Wrentham District Court on charges of assault and battery on an officer, resisting arrest and trafficking fentanyl, among other charges. He pleaded not guilty to all the charges and was ordered held on $100,000 bail.
Baker says authorities are searching the area for at least two additional suspects.
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