Cocaine and heroin distribution ring

I haven’t blogged or Tweeted much tonight because I started my day faced with the need to read a 97-page long affidavit emailed to me by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

And that was before I started writing my story.

A man who spent about 5 days a week living at 5 Riverhurst Road, Unit 720, in Billerica, is named in the affidavit as one of the ringleaders of a cocaine and heroin distribution ring that spread dozens of kilos of cocaine around Eastern Massachusetts after getting it from a Providence, R.I. man who’s sources are in Mexico.

Another man, Freddie Morales-Lugo, who I blogged about back in December, is also among the 20 men charged with conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine in U.S. District Court in Boston.

I don’t have a lot of details on all this, though my story is very long.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DEA have not yet officially announced the arrests, so no one is willing to comment quite yet. Sending me the redacted affidavit is the only thing the U.S. Attorney’s Office would do since the affidavit is the only document that has been unsealed in the case so far.

Armed robbery for Adderall

Here’s something I haven’t seen before.

A 19-year-old Lowell man, Joshua Brand, is being held on a single count of armed robbery after police say he passed a note at the CVS pharmacy at 1815 Middlesex Street this morning at 12:15 a.m., and demanded bottles of the ADHD drug Adderall.

Police say the note suggested Brand had a gun, and that he escaped the store with six bottles of the prescription drug, which has grown in popularity in recent years as many students use it, often without a prescription, to aid their studies.

Police were called to the store for a report of a robbery in progress at 12:15 a.m., and officers were warned that the suspect was potentially armed.

The suspect was described as a white male, in his 20’s, in a black sweatshirt.

Police say Officers Timothy Whalen and Jason Gatto spotted a man fitting that description on Middlesex Street as they sped toward the store, and  stopped him with help from a UMass Lowell police officer.

Police say they found six bottles of Adderall and a note still in the man’s pocket.

Tewksbury Police – The Freshmaker!

I’m pretty sure this isn’t what the folks at Mentos had in mind when they described their product as “the freshmaker.”

A 19-year-old Lawrence man was locked up on Tuesday after Tewksbury Police conducting surveillance stopped a suspicious vehicle near Kennedy Road.

Police say they called a Massachusetts State Police canine to the scene, and the dog sniffed out what is pictured above.

Extensive cultivation business

If you, like me, have ever been skeptical when police use words like “extensive” when describing marijuana growing operations, lets take a look at this photo together.

Below is a photograph Burlington Police took after they served a search warrant last week at the 116 Lexington Street home of Daniel Gentile, 37.

The reflective material on the walls is one thing, but that ventilation system looks like something I’d expect to see in a spacecraft.

Bathrobe, Simpsons pajamas and work boots

That’s what Luis Concepcion, 53, of 1301 Middlesex St., Unit 5, in Lowell, was wearing tonight as he was led to a prison transport wagon.

I don’t think Concepcion was really prepared for the NEMLEC SWAT team that used stun grenades to enter his apartment and help Lowell detectives serve a search warrant tonight about 8:30 p.m.

Inside the apartment, police say they found over 100 grams of cocaine and about 10 grams of heroin. Concepcion, despite the swanky clothes, now faces a mandatory minimum 10 years in prison on a count of trafficking over 100 grams of cocaine.

He is also charged with possession of heroin with intent to distribute, and conspiracy. Police tell me they are also seeking a second person in connection with the raid.

Capt. Jonathan Webb didn’t want to elaborate much on why Lowell Police asked for SWAT assistance on this warrant, but he said the move was meant to protect both officers and residents.

Concepcion was also arrested in 2010, accused of possession of heroin.

In October of 2011, he faced a slew of charges, after police accused him of being drunk and refusing to stop for officers as he drove the wrong way down Pawtucket Boulevard with an open container of alcohol and presription pills in a vehicle with him, according to reports published at the time.

Concepcion was released on personal recognizance at his arraignment on those charges.

UPDATE: Luis Concepcion is being held on $5,000 cash bail. His son, Abraham Concepcion, 22, turned himself in at the Lowell Police station today about 2 p.m. He is charged with trafficking over 100 grams of cocaine. He will be arraigned Wednesday in Lowell District Court.