42-year-old Massachusetts man arrested after thousands of pills, one-pound brick of powder and $250,000 in cash confiscated – Fall River Reporter

Authorities confiscated thousands of orange and blue pills, a one-kilogram cube of powder and almost PLN 250,000. dollars in cash during a drug sting at the home of 42-year-old Manuel Barroso on Crestshire Drive in Lawrence, Mass., said Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker and Acting Lawrence Police Chief Melix Bonilla.

The Massachusetts State Police Essex County Detective Unit, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Lawrence Police Department executed the warrant on Friday. Barroso was arrested and initially charged with two felonies: trafficking in more than 200 grams of fentanyl and trafficking in more than 200 grams of methamphetamine, both in connection with the earlier discovery – on May 22 of this year – of a pill-pressing operation in a basement apartment on Salem Street in Lawrence.

Following the May discovery, Essex SPDU and Lawrence Police executed a search warrant which resulted in the discovery of several five-gallon buckets of orange powder, multiple pill bags and a pill press. While searching for the residents of the basement apartment, investigators found evidence leading them to Barroso, who will likely face additional charges in connection with the new drug scandal.

“Stopping and prosecuting those dealing these dangerous, often deadly, illegal drugs and removing these substances from the streets makes our communities safer,” says Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker.

Trp. David Strong and Trp. Eric Rajkowski served as the investigating officers for the SPDU. Barroso, who is represented by defense attorney Michael Downing, was arraigned in Lawrence District Court on Friday, where he pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail. He is due back in court for a detention hearing on July 10 at 9 a.m.