Bust nets 108 bags from dog's mouth

Getting Prada to relinquish her marijuana proved about as tough as persuading a dog to give up a bone, police discovered yesterday.

About noon yesterday, State Police troopers and Boston police drug investigators were watching an apartment in Brighton when they saw Edwardo Pimentel, 23, who has a suspended driver's license, get behind the wheel of a car, officials said.

After Pimentel was stopped, his companion, Hannah Gephart, 21, gave police permission to search the apartment at 1412 Commonwealth Ave. that the pair had just left. Inside, police found a loaded silver-colored pistol, 14 small bags of marijuana, a bag of white powder believed to be illegal drugs, and a tin containing $1,000 in cash, officials said.

They also noticed that Pimentel's pit bull, Prada, was running around the room with a large brown plastic bag in her mouth. When a Boston police detective tried to get the bag out of the dog's mouth, it ripped, exposing a large number of smaller bags containing marijuana, police said.

A tussle ensued. The dog eventually lost.

''All 108 bags were recovered from the dog's mouth after a vigorous struggle," Boston police said in a press release.

The officers and troopers arrested and charged Pimentel with unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, several motor vehicle violations, and possession of a Class D substance with intent to distribute. Gephart and another man found in the apartment -- Juan Ozoria, 24, of Dorchester -- were both charged with possession of a Class D substance with intent to distribute.

All three were scheduled to be arraigned in Brighton District Court this morning, police said. Prada the dog was returned to her crate to wait for other residents of the apartment, who were expected to care for her, police said.