SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – The Springfield Police arrested 48-year-old Carlos Lopez for a second time in ten weeks for heroin trafficking on Tuesday afternoon.
Springfield Police Narcotics Detectives found 12,080 heroin packets (242 grams) from Carlos Lopez, a suspected heroin trafficker, who was out on bail at a convenience store on the 1700 block of Longmeadow Street in around 3:05 p.m. on Tuesday.
Back on October 23rd, 2020 Springfield Police Narcotics Detectives arrested Lopez on heroin trafficking charges where nearly 30,000 heroin packets (600 grams) were found. Lopez was released on a $10,000 bail.
“A lot of people talk a big game about the Opioid Crisis, but our Narcotics Detectives consistently take large amounts of heroin off the street. The issue is sometimes these drug dealers are released back into our city neighborhoods on low bails, no bails or ineffective GPS Bracelets. In this case Mr. Lopez went right back to trafficking heroin, which wreaks havoc in our neighborhoods and across western Massachusetts,” said Springfield Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood.
On Tuesday, after a month-long investigation showed that once released, Lopez allegedly continued to sell and traffic heroin across the city.
Detectives coordinated with other agencies as Lopez traveled to New York to re-up his heroin supply and when he arrived back in Massachusetts, he was taken into custody in Longmeadow, that is when detectives found 12,080 heroin packets and approximately $330.
48-year-old Carlos Lopez of Eastern Avenue is charged with:
- Trafficking in Heroin 200 plus grams
“As we continue the ongoing struggle to address the Opioid Crisis in our Commonwealth and our nation, these individuals who deal this poison are far too often able to get right back into our city streets and neighborhoods thanks to low bails, no bails or as Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood stated, ‘on ineffective GPS bracelets’. We cannot continue to make positive changes in address the Opioid Crisis if our systems, which we have in place, continue to let those individuals pushing this product go free with little to no consequences for their actions which negatively hurt our loved ones,” said Mayor Domenic J. Sarno.
Members of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) West Chester, NY Task Force, and Springfield ATF Task Force members were also part of the investigation.
