Methuen Man Charged with Drug Trafficking

On January 11, 2017 Officer John Whaley was on patrol on Salem Street when his attention was drawn to two males that were standing outside of a Toyota Camry that was parked at a local gas station. The two males were looking around nervously while one was manipulating a cell phone. Although they were parked adjacent to a pump, neither individual was pumping gas. Shortly thereafter a gray Honda Accord pulled up next to them. One of the males entered the Accord and then exited after a short period. Based on his training and experience, Officer Whaley believed that a drug transaction had just taken place. The Honda Accord exited the lot and accelerated onto the highway heading south on Route 128 while the Camry exited and headed east on Salem Street. With additional units in the area, motor vehicle stops were conducted on both vehicles.

As officers spoke with all parties involved it was clear that there stories were inconsistent with one another. Further investigation by Officer Whaley resulted in him locating several large bundles of money totaling over $6,000. At this time he requested the assistance of a narcotics K9. Officer Ellenton and K9 Stryka of the Danvers Police Department responded to his location which resulted in the K9 alerting to the dashboard area of the vehicle. Following this the Accord was seized and held at WPD headquarters pending a search warrant application which was later secured by Wakefield Detectives. With additional assistance from the Sergeant Panzini and K9 Xando of the Everett Police Department, a “drug hide” was located behind the center console. Stashed inside of this was over $28,000 cash and 200 Oxycodone pills. 

Following this Wakefield Detectives applied for and secured an arrest warrant for 25 year old Erick Delrosario of Methuen charging him with Drug Trafficking (Over 18 grams of Class B Substance Oxycodone) and Possession with Intent to Distrubute a Class B Substance. He was recently arraigned in Malden District Court. 

Chief Rick Smith noted, “This was outstanding work by Officer Whaley which resulted in another large scale drug dealer being taken off of our streets. We also would like to thank both the Danvers and Everett Police Departments for their tremendous assistance with this case.”