Multi-agency effort in Holyoke leads to 3 arrests, loaded gun, seizure of drugs
HOLYOKE — Three people were arrested after a multi-agency investigation led police to an illegal loaded gun, bagged drugs, $725 in cash, a Taser and more.
Felix Vargas, 46, and Erica Weeks, 38, of Holyoke, both face several charges, including firearm possession without a license; carrying a loaded gun without a license; having ammunition without a license; possession of a gun while committing a crime; trafficking cocaine, 36 to 100 grams; and having a stun gun.
Christy Suarez, 45, of Holyoke, was arrested on an outstanding warrant.
For the past few months, the multi-agency investigation focused on Vargas, who was suspected of distributing cocaine from his apartment on Hampden Street, Holyoke Police Chief Brian Keenan said.
On Friday, detectives were granted a search warrant for the apartment and Vargas' car.
Early in the morning on Tuesday, around 5:30 a.m., officers from the Holyoke Police Narcotics Unit, the FBI Western Massachusetts Gang Task Force, the Chicopee Police Narcotics Unit, and the Hampden County Sheriff's Department carried out a search warrant at his address.
Keenan said, inside the apartment, officers detained Weeks, Suarez and Vargas. While being handcuffed, Vargas threw three bags of powder cocaine over a railing.
After his arrest, police found two more bags of cocaine in his sneaker, and then three more bags in the police car he was taken in, Keenan said, totaling about 26 bags of crack cocaine and 10 bags of powder cocaine. Police also found a gun magazine.
Read the original article on MassLive.
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