Accused dealer held, illegal drugs seized in Dorchester raid

Neighbors who said they were fed up with what police say was a sophisticated drug dealer on their street got action when officers raided a Dorchester apartment and seized surveillance cameras, OxyContin, crystal methamphetamine, cocaine, and a growling Rottweiler that the suspect had allegedly used to protect the stash.

Yesterday, Wilfredo Rivera, 30, who lived in a three-decker near the JFK-UMass T station, was arraigned in Dorchester District Court on charges that included possession with intent to distribute cocaine, ecstasy, Klonopin, Xanax, and other drugs, as well as unlawful possession of 12-gauge shotgun shells.

Rivera entered a plea of not guilty, and a judge ordered him held on $50,000 cash bail.

Rivera was on probation from a conviction for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, prosecutors said.

''They all think they can hide out in our beloved Dorchester," said Chris Stockbridge, 33, a Dorchester resident who was visiting friends next to Rivera's residence yesterday. ''Thank God for the Boston police."

Police said they had begun investigating Rivera four months ago, after neighbors told them that people were coming and going at all hours from his apartment, which overlooks the Southeast Expressway. Police had also reported a spike in street robberies near his Moseley Street apartment, said Boston Police Deputy Superintendent Paul Fitzgerald, commander of the Major Case Division.

''He was dealing out of the house, but more likely delivering to clients," Fitzgerald said yesterday. ''That brought people into that area prone to commit those types of crimes . . . Neighbors were complaining about the robberies and . . . feeling that this address may be part of the problem."

Neighbors said they were not surprised that he had been charged with dealing drugs.

''What a shocker," said Bob Donovan, a lifelong Moseley Street resident who is president of the Columbia Savin Hill Civic Association. ''I'd be more shocked if you told me he was Brother Anthony in on a sabbatical from the seminary."

On Wednesday afternoon, police in unmarked cars were observing Rivera's 2005 Infiniti on Gallivan Boulevard when officers spotted him making an illegal U-turn, police said. Investigators say he had been using the car to deliver drugs.

After stopping the vehicle, the officers smelled marijuana inside and spotted what appeared to be a large bag of marijuana in his jacket pocket, police said.

Officers searched the car and found 60 pills of OxyContin, police said.

They arrested Rivera, obtained a search warrant, and raided his apartment a few hours later.

Inside, police found a stash that included 40 shotgun shells, crystal methamphetamine, five bags containing a total of 19 grams of cocaine, 198 pills of ecstasy, 50 pills of Xanax, 11 of Klonopin, and four large bags believed to contain marijuana, authorities said. Fitzgerald said he was not sure of the drugs' street value.

They also said they found a surveillance network of three cameras, which were pointed toward Rivera's entryway, his back porch window, and onto Moseley Street -- all wired to a computer.

Officers found a device used to intercept cellphone calls and a digital scale, police said.

An animal control officer was also called to the scene; the officer led away Rivera's Rottweiler, Fitzgerald said.

''What you have here is a drug dealer who knows his main source of income, and he's taken steps to safeguard that," Fitzgerald said. ''That's not extremely uncommon with the low cost of this equipment."

Donovan said neighbors were not living in fear, but were relieved that police had responded to complaints.

''I'm happy to see they're doing their job in that drug unit," Donovan said. ''I know something like this will make a lot of difference."