WEST HAVEN — A months-long investigation into drug trafficking at a local motel led to the arrest of three individuals and the seizure of firearms, ammunition, and narcotics with an estimated street value exceeding $22,000.
The West Haven Street Crime Unit initiated an investigation in April into the illegal distribution of crack cocaine and fentanyl from a room at the Econo Lodge Motel in West Haven.
Investigators identified Alexander Vargas as the suspect who allegedly accepted both cash and stolen merchandise as payment for narcotics.
On Tuesday, May 13, at approximately 2 p.m., members of the Street Crime Unit and Uniformed Patrol Division conducted a motor vehicle stop and took Vargas into custody on four active warrants.
Officers then executed a search warrant on Vargas’s motel room, where they discovered an M4 Carbine .22-style rifle and a silver Smith & Wesson .22-caliber handgun containing eight rounds of ammunition.
The search also yielded six boxes of .22-caliber ammunition totaling 269 rounds, four high-capacity magazines, and substantial quantities of narcotics.
Police seized 207.9 grams of crack cocaine with an estimated street value of $20,790 and 177 wax folds containing a heroin/fentanyl mix valued at approximately $1,770.
Additional items recovered included 78 various prescription pills not prescribed to Vargas, 40 counterfeit fentanyl pills, and assorted merchandise with security tags still attached, believed to be stolen.
Vargas faces multiple charges including six counts of possession of a controlled substance, operating a drug factory, possession with intent to sell more than 1/2 ounce of cocaine, illegal possession of an assault weapon, and criminal possession of a firearm.
He is being held on a $650,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Milford Superior Court.
Two additional individuals, Nicole Dube and Shalia Russell, were also arrested during the operation.
Dube was charged with possession of a controlled substance and operating a drug factory, while also facing outstanding warrants from multiple Connecticut jurisdictions.
Russell was taken into custody on two outstanding warrants from Fairfield, Connecticut.
