Margarita Colon, 45, of 140 Essex St. and Orlando Gonzalez, 39, of 55 Shawmut Ave. are both facing drug-related charges after detectives with the city's drug enforcement unit executed a search warrant at an Essex Street apartment.
HOLYOKE - Two Holyoke residents were taken into custody on Thursday following a two-month investigation into crack sales in the paper city.
Margarita Colon, 45, of 140 Essex St. and Orlando Gonzalez, 39, of 55 Shawmut Ave. are both facing drug-related charges after detectives with the city's drug enforcement unit executed a search warrant at the Essex Street apartment.
According to Sgt. Larry Cournoyer of the Holyoke Police Department, detectives arrived at the apartment around 8:30 p.m. with a warrant in hand. They entered and cleared the house for safety then began a search in accordance with the warrant.
"They found 59 corner-ties of crack-cocaine, prescription pills in unmarked bottles, U.S. currency and packaging materials," Cournoyer said. "It was an extensive investigation that took place over a two-month period."
Cournoyer said that the prescription pills confiscated included the anti-anxiety drugs Xanax and Ativan (Lorazepam) and the painkiller Percocet, which contains oxycodone and acetaminophen.
Colon was charged with trafficking cocaine, conspiracy to violate the drug law, possession of a class-e substance with the intent to distribute and violating the drug law within 1,000 feet of a school or a park due to the apartment's proximity to Holyoke Library Park. She was held in lieu of $50,000 bail awaiting arraignment Friday morning.
Gonzalez was charged with conspiracy to violate the drug law and picked up on three active warrants for shoplifting, possession of heroin and unlicensed operation, according to Cournoyer.