WESTFIELD – A city woman has been held in lieu of cash bail after she was arrested, again, on heroin charges.
Det. Timothy Grady of the narcotics unit of the Westfield Police Department reports that members of the Eastern Hampden County Narcotics task force set up surveillance sites in the city on Friday because past experience has taught the participating officers that the first day of the month is a “payday” for persons who receive any of a variety of government assistance checks and some spend the money to buy the heroin their habit demands.
Det. Sgt. Stephen K. Dickinson, Grady’s supervisor, explained that some heroin addicts, those with an income source, support their habit by using their income to buy a quantity of heroin larger than their immediate need and selling the surplus in the city.
He said that most of the heroin sold in the city is sold in small amounts by sellers who are themselves addicted and buy the drug in bulk from a vendor in Holyoke or some other nearby city.
Grady said that a confidential informant had told him that a woman from whom Grady had made a controlled purchase of heroin in the past, Samantha Mercedes Eades, of 9 Myrtle Ave., would be going to Holyoke as soon as she got her government assistance cash to buy a supply of heroin for herself and for resale.
Like most recipients of government ‘checks’, Eades does not get an actual check but, instead, her public assistance funds are directly deposited to her bank account.
The confidential informant told Grady that Eades’ money arrived in her account about 1 a.m. on the first day of the month.
By early afternoon, members of the task force were in position to surveil a parking lot where narcotics transactions have known to have occurred previously.
When Eades exited the passenger side of a vehicle which parked there, officers approached and the operator, who is the father of Eades’ child, consented to a search of his vehicle after the situation was explained.
Eades denied possession of any contraband and also denied ownership of a large book bag found on the passenger side of the car.
However, the car owner said the bag belonged to Eades and a debit card and other property belonging to her was found in the bag, including an ATM receipt showing that $600 had been withdrawn from her account at 1:20 a.m.
The detectives also discovered in the bag a pouch with two bundles of ten packets containing white powder, as well as five individual packets. The powder tested positive for heroin.
Also found in the bag was a sealable plastic bag containing more than 50 empty packets with white residue, a kit of supplies typically used to self-administer heroin and a pipe commonly used to smoke crack cocaine.
Eades was arrested for possession of a Class A drug with intent to distribute and was arraigned in Westfield District Court on Monday.
Justice Rita S. Koenigs set bail at $500 and noted that Eades is addicted to heroin, was on bail pending trail for a charge of possession of heroin at the time of the new charges and has previously been late for court appointments.
Eades will be held at the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center in Chicopee until her return to court March 7 for a pre-trial hearing.
