Neighbors applaud after drug arrests
SOMERVILLE -- After police made what they called the biggest drug bust in the city's history and escorted four alleged drug dealers away in handcuffs, neighbors along Franklin Street expressed their gratitude in a very public way, with a round of applause.
"We gave them attaboys," said Albert Correia, who lives across the street from the two-family house in East Somerville that had been watched by city police for nearly seven months. "We were happy to see it."
Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. said the Thursday night seizure of nearly a kilogram of heroin should have a "significant impact on drug trafficking in this area and in New England" and enhance public safety by reducing petty crime committed by drug users.
He spoke at a press conference attended by Mayor Joseph Curtatone and Police Chief Robert Bradley. Drugs, guns, and money seized in the bust were displayed on a table. The raid netted $5,625 in cash and drugs worth an estimated $500,000. Two men and two women were charged.
Ricardo L. Gomez, 38; Raymundo Baez, 31; Fiorlenis Jimenez, 22; and Xiomara A. Ortiz, 43, pleaded not guilty to heroin trafficking and other charges at arraignment yesterday in Somerville District Court.
Officials said the investigation began with anonymous calls to the city's 311 phone line, which connect callers to every city agency. The calls triggered the investigation that utilized police from Burlington, Tewksbury, and Malden and drug-sniffing dogs from Middlesex Sheriff James V. DiPaolo's office.
According to a Somerville police report filed in court, investigators went to the Franklin Street house late Thursday afternoon to execute a search warrant, when Baez arrived in a Nissan Quest minivan. Police said they found 117.8 grams of heroin and $1,715 inside the minivan and in Baez's possession around 4:45 p.m.
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For several hours, police swarmed around the house in the neighborhood of multifamily houses near the Charlestown line. Neighbors gathered to watch as the investigation played out in front of them. Police searched inside the house and tore apart the van, finding drugs in a hidden compartment, they said.
As police gathered to leave, the neighbors smiled and clapped, according to residents and police.
Bradley called the drug seizure the largest in the city's history. Police are continuing to investigate the origin of the heroin and links between the suspects and the Franklin Street house. Defense lawyers for all four defendants said that their clients had no ties to the Franklin Street house.
Assistant Middlesex District Attorney Moya R. Gibson said in court that federal immigration officials wanted Baez, Jimenez, and Gomez detained for possible immigration violations.
Ortiz's lawyer, William Keefe, said his client is a naturalized American citizen.
Baez's lawyer, Maria C. Curtatone, said her client did not know the three people in the Toyota. She said Baez is a laborer and that his family said he had a valid green card. She said he has been in the country from the Dominican Republic since at least 1991.
Keefe described Ortiz, who he said works for a cleaning company and lives in Jamaica Plain, as a drug mule victimized by dealers.
Gomez, of Providence, had the tips of his fingers burned in an apparent attempt to obscure his identity, police said. His lawyer, Patrick Troy, said that his client had no drugs or weapons in his possession when he was arrested.
Jimenez's lawyer, James McCall, said that the allegations against his client were vague and unproven. He said the Mattapan resident entered the United States with a valid visa, but might have overstayed her departure date. He said she had a valid passport from the Dominican Republic.
At the press conference, Leone warned that heroin, which has become cheaper and more readily available, is being used by children as young as middle school age.
Bradley issued a warning to drug dealers who plan to set up shop in Somerville.
"The eyes of the community are on you," he said. "Not the eyes of the police, the eyes of the citizens."
