By Dan Atkinson
Staff Writer
May 04, 2008 11:56 pm AMESBURY — Three suspects await arraignment on drug charges today after police seized about $30,000 in cocaine, heroin and cash in what proved to be a busy weekend for the town's K-9 officer. Police responded to a resident's report of an apparent drug transaction at Middle and South Hunt Roads at about 10:30 Friday evening. After getting descriptions of the cars at the scene, police in neighboring Merrimac pulled over one of the vehicles and called in Amesbury officers George Cavanaugh and Thomas Nichols, who obtained the driver's permission to search the car, according to police reports. Kaybar, the department's police dog, alerted the officers to the presence of drugs near the steering wheel, where Cavanaugh then discovered a loose headlight switch assembly. Pulling out the assembly revealed a hidden compartment containing 126 grams of cocaine, 65 grams of heroin and nearly $7,000 cash, according to police reports. The driver, Alardy Gonzalez, 24, of 142 Dawes St., Lawrence, was arrested and charged with trafficking in heroin and cocaine and conspiracy to violate drug laws. The combined street value of the heroin and cocaine was about $19,000, according to police reports. Gonzalez is being held on $250,000 cash bail. "That's why the dog is such an asset for us," Sgt. Kevin Donovan said. "(The driver) consented to have the car search; he must have been pretty confident we wouldn't find it." Meanwhile, Officer Raymond Landry had stopped another car matching the description of one of the vehicles at the scene, and saw the occupants moving around inside the car after the stop, according to police reports. After frisking three of the occupants, Landry found marijuana, a billy club and a Taser weapon, according to reports. After another search, Landry found a plastic bag containing 93 grams of cocaine and 7 grams of heroin inside one of the suspects' pants, according to police. The street value was estimated at $10,000. The suspect, Ryan Davis, 21, 275 Kimball Pond Road, Vienna, Maine, was charged with trafficking cocaine, possession of heroin, conspiracy to violate drug laws and possession of a Taser. Davis had just bought the cocaine and heroin from Gonzalez, police believe. Also arrested were Natalie Gaignard, 31, 2143 Belgrade Road, Augusta, Maine, and Andy Goodall, 21, 120 Main St., Old Town, Maine. Gaignard was charged with trafficking cocaine, being present where heroin was kept, possession of marijuana, conspiracy to violate drug laws, carrying a billy club and a marked lanes violation. Goodall was charged with possession of marijuana. Davis and Gaignard are being held on $25,000 cash bail. They were scheduled for a pre-arraignment hearing today in Newburyport District Court. Donovan said the three could face long sentences if convicted; the minimum for trafficking more than 28 grams of cocaine is five years in state prison, and the minimum for trafficking more than 100 grams is 10 years. Trafficking more than 28 grams of heroin carries a minimum of seven years in prison. Donovan praised the Amesbury and Merrimac officers for making the arrests safely, and the resident who made the initial report for tipping police off. "We really appreciate people keeping an eye out in their neighborhood," Donovan said. That wasn't the end of the evening for Nichols and Kaybar, however. They were called to Salisbury at about 2 a.m. to assist in a car stop that resulted in numerous weapons charges, and after a search of the car, marijuana charges as well, Donovan said. Arrested in Salisbury were Paul Lopez, 21, 36 Orchard St., Lawrence, and Elvin Gomez, 18, 100 Foster St., Lawrence. Both were charged with possession of marijuana, two counts of unlawful possession of ammunition, two counts of failing to possess firearm identification cards and two counts of possessing large capacity ammunition feeding devices. Gomez was also charged with a large capacity weapons storage violation, and Lopez was also charged with two counts of possession of an unlicensed firearm, two counts of keeping a loaded firearm in a car, two counts of carrying a dangerous weapon, two large capacity weapons storage violations, giving a false name to police, driving without a license, reckless driving, following too close, speeding, an equipment violation and a marked lanes violation. Detective Kevin Pike and officers Keith Forget and Craig Lesage made the arrests on North End Boulevard.
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Photos
Amesbury police dog Kaybar with some of the drugs seized. Staff photo