Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog
Springfield’s Jason Arias, 31 and hereinafter, the “Defendant” did not have a particularly good weekend.
He went into custody since he was the subject of a raid Friday night.
It was a rather successful drug bust for law enforcement. It reportedly resulted in the seizure of guns, cash, and a stash of narcotics valued at upwards of $300,000.
At 8 p.m., police raided the Chase Avenue home of the Defendant, the target of a lengthy drug trafficking investigation by the city’s Street Crime and Narcotics Units. He was home during the raid, which was conducted without incident, according to a statement by Springfield Police Department.
Police say they seized more than 10 pounds of “pure cocaine,” 2,700 bags of heroin, two pounds of marijuana, two handguns, $58,000 in cash, and paraphernalia used to pack and weigh illegal drugs.
And so it was that the Defendant spent the weekend as an involuntary guest of the Commonwealth. He faces various charges, including possession of a firearm while committing a felony, possession of ammunition, two counts of carrying a firearm, trafficking in cocaine (over 200 grams), and trafficking in heroin.
He was expected to face those charges in Sprngfield District Court. Soon thereafter, we can expect to see the matter moved up to Superior Court.
In a department-congratulatory statement, Sergeant John Delaney said, “the war on drugs in Springfield is being won … one arrest at a time.” Commissioner John Barbieri, who has led a “full court press” on drug dealers in the city, noted that more arrests are to come.
The department has reported a 20 percent drop in crime in the city over the past several months, partially as a result of this crackdown.
The “full court press”, incidently, includes a rather new scare tactic.
The always colorful Springfield Police Department Facebook page, run by Sgt. Delaney from the Office of Public Information, has been championing what it calls a “War On Heroin.” The page features six heroin-related posts since Sept. 26 and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down.
While the cyber-level attacks on alleged drug dealers are not slowing down, neither are the actual street level attacks. In the last two weeks, the Springfield police have arrested 12 alleged heroin dealers, taken more than 3,000 bags of the drug along with $18,603 in cash, and enforced at least 40 drug-related charges. And they won’t stop bragging about it on Facebook.
Here are some of the highlights.
From Sept. 30:
Surveillance officers set up a surveillance at the park at 2:00 P.M. yesterday because they received information that a female known as “Beba” had set up shop inside the park and was selling bags of Heroin that she had stashed in her bra. The officers watched as she sold two bags of Heroin to approaching customers, each time she retrieved the bags from inside the area of her bra. The officers moved into the park and arrested “Beba” as she still had money in her hands. A female police officer searched her person and found a plastic baggie filled with rice and 13 bags of Heroin.
From Oct. 1:
Winning the War on Heroin, One Arrest at a Time … this was a big one … Narcotics Officers under the direction of Lt. Alberto Ayala & Sgt. Phil Tarpey took one Heroin dealer and 1,450 bags of Heroin off the street. At 4:45 P.M. the detectives culminated a three week investigation yesterday by arresting a Jose Blanco age 26 after they observed him traveling in his black Honda CRV about to make a large Heroin delivery near the park located at Spring and Pearl Street … This was a great arrest taking a supplier of Heroin that delivers this deadly drug to street dealers throughout Western Massachusetts. The war continues …. dealer beware!
From Oct. 2:
On Wednesday, October 1st at 11:00 A.M. Lt. Charlie Cook, Sgt. Phil Tarpey and detectives of the Narcotics Division conducted a drug raid at 71 Oak Grove Avenue in the City’s Mason Square area and arrested six Heroin dealers … The officers were greeted by six individuals that were targets of the investigation inside the home. Some of the subjects were still sleeping. The officers handcuffed and secured all the dealers inside the house and conducted a search … The officers stated that the dwelling cluttered and not livable for humans. The detectives called the Ordinance Unit and Code Enforcement Officers and the dwelling was condemned, thus ending the Heroin distribution dwelling in the Oak Grove Ave. neighborhood … This was a great arrest getting more Heroin Dealers off the street and solving a problem in the Mason Square neighborhood. The Heroin War continues daily … Drug Dealers Beware.
And, finally, this warning from the ending of the latest post on Oct. 3:
Commissioner John Barbieri has vowed to make it very uncomfortable for Heroin dealers to survive in the City of Springfield. This “full court press” against ALL Heroin dealers in Springfield will continue. The war rages on and we ARE taking prisoners. Drug dealers beware. Springfield is now that much safer with each arrest.
The posts, combined, have been liked more than 500 times. So if you’re selling heroin in Springfield, be sure to smile for your mug shot. It’s going to end up on Facebook.
Attorney Sam’s Take On Prosecutorial Ethics And The Right To A Fair Trial (Part One)
It’s always fun to boast when you feel you’ve done a good job, isn’t it?
The thing is, though, sometimes it is rather unseemly.
Or inappropriate.
Or even dangerous.
Lets continue with this in my next blog.
To review the stories upon which this blog is based, please go to:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2014/12/20/springfield-police-seize-guns-drugs-worth-raid/AZQPtr3BJPcsPWPJomFjYO/story.html and
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2014/10/07/you-selling-heroin-springfield-the-police-will-find-you-and-post-about-facebook/mRkaBhmIhEN8dM7Lq6ORkN/story.html?p1=related_article_page
