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Salem looking to add South Salem train stop; State grants Gloucester $240K to upgrade harbor plans; Saugus will be banning single-use plastic bags; New Manchesterbythesea elementary school on schedule; Beverly Middle School principal resigning at end of year; Columbia Gas to be sold under deal with Feds
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MSP Gang Unit, Along With North Shore Task Force and Lawrence PD, Arrest Two Fentanyl Traffickers
MA State Police Report – On Tuesday afternoon, Troopers from the Massachusetts State Police Gang Unit and fellow members of the North Shore Gang Task Force, including FBI and Homeland Security Investigations Agents and an Essex Sheriff’s Deputy, along with Lawrence Police detectives, arrested JOSE CARMONA, 30, of Lawrence, after arranging and executing an undercover purchase of approximately 220 grams of fentanyl.
The undercover buy was made at the intersection of Lexington and Buswell streets after being arranged the previous day. Surveillance officers had observed CARMONA walk a short distance to that location after exiting a rear basement door of a building at 81 Lexington St.
Following the arrest, Troopers and other Task Force Officers and Lawrence detectives went to the rear door at 81 Lexington St. and observed a common area. They found the door unlocked, entered the common area, and observed an apparent illegal apartment in a corner of the common basement.
When Troopers and Officers knocked on the door of the illegal apartment, it was answered by GABRIEL CARMONA-PIMENTEL, 35, also of Lawrence, who is the brother of JOSE CARMONA. Aware that CARMONA-PIMENTEL was the subject of an arrest warrant for trafficking fentanyl, police also arrested him.
The brothers were transported to the Lawrence Police station where they were booked. An MSP Gang Unit Trooper then applied for and was granted a search warrant for the basement apartment at 81 Lexington. During the subsequent search of the apartment Troopers and Officers seized the following:
- Numerous bags of suspected fentanyl inside a suitcase;
- Paraphernalia associated with the distribution of narcotics, including grinders, a scale, and packaging materials;
- Paperwork belonging to the CARMONA brothers; and
- A Puerto Rico identification belonging to GABRIEL CARMONA-PIMENTEL.
The total weight of suspected fentanyl seized during the search warrant execution was 1,224 grams with packaging. Along with the undercover purchase of 224 grams with packaging, the total amount seized by Troopers, Task Force Officers, and Lawrence Police in Tuesday’s operation was approximately 1,448 grams.
JOSE CARMONA was charged with the following offenses related to Tuesday’s seizures and prior undercover purchases during the same investigation:
- Trafficking in fentanyl 200, grams or more (two counts); and
- Trafficking in fentanyl over 36 grams (two counts).
In addition to the arrest warrant, GABRIEL CARMONA-PIMENTEL was charged the following offenses related to Tuesday’s seizures and prior under purchases during the same investigation:
- Trafficking in fentanyl, 200 grams or more; and
- Trafficking in fentanyl, 18 g rams or more.
The defendants were arraigned yesterday in Lawrence District Court.
State Police Photo
Gloucester Fire Department Receives $42,500 Community Compact Cabinet IT Grant
GLOUCESTER — Chief Eric Smith is pleased to announce that the Gloucester Fire Department has been awarded a $42,500 IT grant from the Community Compact Cabinet.
The grant, along with $50,000 from the City of Gloucester, will fund the purchase and implementation of a new radio system for the department.
The Community Compact Cabinet (CCC) was developed by the Baker-Polito Administration in an effort to facilitate a stronger partnership between municipalities and state government in order to support communities in efforts to improve their services. The CCC offers an IT grant program, which funds investments in technology in municipal agencies to make those organizations more efficient, cost effective and to better support communication among residents and their local government.
The new, state-of-the-art technology will transition the Gloucester Fire Department from a very high frequency (VHF) to an ultra high frequency (UHF) radio system, and will also meet Project 25 (P25) standards for public safety and first responder communication systems. As a result, first responders will have access to clearer communication and an increased range of coverage, which will better penetrate through materials such as concrete, metal and rock.
The technology, once implemented, will also transition the department to a three site simulcast system with five receivers from the current single transmit site with five receivers, allowing messages to be communicated to all geographic areas of the city clearly from multiple broadcasting sites instead of from one site.
“I’d like to thank Gov. Baker, Lt. Gov. Polito and their office for providing the Community Compact IT Grant funding opportunity,” said Gloucester Fire’s Communications Officer Lt. Nick Ouellette, who wrote the proposal for the grant. “These funds allow communities to undertake IT projects whose budgets are constrained and may not have the opportunity to undertake these types of projects. I’d also like to thank Mayor Romeo Theken and her administration, the Gloucester City Council, Chief Smith and Assistant Chief Aiello for their support. Without everyone, this opportunity wouldn’t be possible.”
Lt. Ouellette also wrote the proposal for an approximately $460,000 Assistance to Firefighters Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) awarded to the department in 2017 to fund the purchase of portable radios.
“Lt. Ouellette has done an impeccable job writing grant proposals on behalf of our department, and I’d like to recognize him for those efforts,” Chief Smith said. “Clear, effective communication is critical in the fire service, and this grant will increase firefighter safety and allow us to provide a better service to our City.”
The Gloucester Fire Department aims to have the new radio system fully operational by fall 2020.
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