LAWRENCE, Massachusetts — Safe to say John Ackerman, 40, didn’t know a team of drug investigators was watching when police say he blew through a stop sign at Essex and Nesmith streets.
Police quickly pulled over the silver 2001 Buick Century that Ackerman, of Farmington, New Hampshire, was driving at 4:25 p.m. Wednesday.
Officer Rob Lakin said he approached the car, with New Hampshire plates, on the front passenger side. He watched as the front seat passenger, later identified as Andrew Parker, 28, of Rochester, New Hampshire, used his right arm to reach down and put something on the right, rear floor of the Buick.
“I believed Mr. Parker was attempting to conceal some sort of weapon or contraband,” Lakin wrote in his report.
Police ordered Ackerman, Parker and another passenger, Heather McLellan, 24, also of Rochester, out of the car.
On the back seat floor, Lakin recovered two fingers of heroin and several small bags of cocaine, Lakin wrote.
Ackerman, Parker and McLellan Wednesday became three of latest to be arrested in the city’s continuing “Operation Blue Crush” sweeps, aimed at curbing heroin and opioid sales and abuse. Over the past two months, Lawrence detectives and police officers in the city’s Street Narcotics Enforcement Unit have made 180 arrests — the vast majority drug-related.
Many of those arrests are New Hampshire and Maine residents, some who have traveled for hours to visit to the city to purchase narcotics, police said.
Last week, drug and gang detectives, along with corrections officers, conducted a crackdown operation on Thornton Avenue, a crime-riddled neighborhood. In an hour, three trespassing arrests were made and large quantities of ammunition and heroin were seized.
On Wednesday, street narcotics unit detectives working with detectives from Andover, Methuen, North Andover, state police and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency made 36 arrests. Lawrence Police Chief James Fitzpatrick noted 28 of the arrests were for trafficking heroin, illegal possession of heroin and illegal possession of heroin with intent to distribute.
“We are going to keep going through the warmer months,” Fitzpatrick said. “We are trying to hit this from all angles. We know that this is a big problem so we are committed to continuing our efforts.”
Ackerman, Parker and McLellan, who were pulled over on Essex Street, were all arrested and charged with trafficking over 18 grams of heroin, illegal possession of a class A drug with intent to distribute and illegal possession of a cocaine.
Lakin wrote in his report that 20 grams of heroin and a single gram of cocaine was confiscated.
Police working in “Operation Blue Crush” in Lawrence on Wednesday booked those arrested at the Lawrence, Methuen and North Andover police departments.
Those arrested Wednesday included:
— Joseph Curtis, 33, Spring Street, Farmington, New Hampshire; trafficking heroin, illegal possession of a class A substance, 12:30 p.m.
— Jennifer Ashley Baillargeon, 31,of Brookside Street, Dracut, Massachusetts; illegal possession of a class A substance, 9:34 a.m.
— Carlos Guzman Nieves, 47, of Canal Street, Lawrence, Massachusetts; illegal possession of a class A substance with intent to distribute (two counts), illegal possession of a class B substance, 10:07 a.m.
— Thomas Grenier, 30, of Brookside Street, Dracut, Massachusetts; illegal possession of a class A substance, 9:20 a.m.
— Paulette Carol Delisle, 66, of Wilson Street, Manchester, New Hampshire; knowingly being present where heroin is kept, 5:52 p.m.
— Timothy Benoit, 38, of Ash Street, Nashua, New Hampshire; illegal possession of a class A substance, two warrants, 5:15 p.m.
— Benjamin Vizcaino, 38, of Haverhill Street, Lawrence, Massachusetts; illegal distribution of a class A substance, illegal distribution of a class A substance, 5:52 p.m.
— Thomas Baxter, 40, of Mulberry Street, Haverhill, Massachusetts; illegal possesson of a class A substance, failure to use turn signals, 6:07 p.m.
— Constance Lowell, 43, of Lake Street, Bristol, New Hampshire; illegal possession of a class A substance, conspiracy to violate drug laws, 1:15 p.m.
— Jeffrey Tenney, 27, of Country Club Way, Manchester, New Hampshire; illegal possession of a class A substance, conspiracy to violate drug laws, 1:27 p.m.
— Tyler Soukone, 30, of Hemp Hill Road, Bristol, New Hampshire; illegal possession of a class A substance with intent to distribute, conspiracy to violate drug laws, 1:51 p.m.
— William Lopez, 32, of Bromfield Street, Lawrence, Massachusetts; illegal possession of a class A substance with intent to distribute, trafficking, conspiracy to violate controlled substance laws, 2:17 p.m.
— Allyson Lyn Graham, 22, of Hemphill Road, Bristol, New Hampshire; illegal possession of a class A substance, conspiracy to violate drug laws, 1:05 p.m.
— Aerial Lynn Pushard, 26, of Oliver Street, Bath, Maine; illegal possession of a class A substance, 12:45 p.m.
— James Young-Dumont, 32, of Weld Road, Wilton, Maine; illegal possession of a class A substance, 12:55 p.m.
— Eric Tatro, 31, of Bonnie Lane, Tewksbury, Massachusetts; driving after license suspension, driving an unregistered motor vehicle, illegal possession of class A and B substances, 4:38 p.m.
— Melvin Plaza, 35, of Beacon Street, Lawrence, Massachusetts; illegal distribution of a class A substance, illegal possession of a class A substance with intent to distribute, trafficking more than 100 grams of class A substance, illegal possession of a class B substance, 12:50 p.m.
— Kenneth Wilson, 50, of Beach Road, Salisbury, Massachusetts; illegal possession of a class A substance, 12:22 p.m.
— Chris Woodbury, 44, of Carriage Court, Merrimac, Massachusetts; illegal possession of a class A drug, 12:06 p.m.
— Joseph Gagnon, 36, of Freemont Street, Lowell, Massachusetts; knowingly being present where heroin is kept, 4:26 p.m.
— Alexander Hand, 19, of North Street, Georgetown; illegal possession of a class A substance, 1:09 p.m.
— Brittany Pilling, 26, of Stage Road, Nottingham, New Hampshire; conspiracy to violate drug laws, trespassing, 3:17 p.m.
— Aryn McCarty, 24, of Longwood Road, Salem, New Hampshire; conspiracy to violate drug laws, 3:33 p.m.
— Nicholas Lavalley, 24, of Reed Street, Londonderry, New Hampshire; illegal possession of a class A substance, conspiracy to violate drug laws, 3:56 p.m.
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