Motor Vehicle Stop Leads to Two Arrests and the Seizure of Close to 500 Grams of Cocaine

At about 2:00pm, on Friday, January 25, 2013, members of the Youth Violence Strike Force were on patrol in the area of East Cottage & Batchelder Streets when officers observed a gold-colored motor vehicle travelling with a dysfunctional brake light. Given the infraction, officers conducted a motor vehicle stop. When asked to produce a license to operate, the operator produced an invalid license that appeared to be forged and belonging to another individual. In fact, the picture on the license was not that of the individual operating the car. Further investigation revealed that the name, birthdate and social security number belonged to a different individual as well.

While looking inside the vehicle, officers observed and noted alterations and modifications to the vehicle often associated with hides or hiding places used in the trafficking of illegal drugs.

Officers requested a drug-detecting canine to the scene. Once on scene, the police K-9 (Koda) was able to detect the presence of narcotics in the vehicle. Upon detecting narcotics, the police K-9 began barking and scratching at an air vent inside the car. With reason to believe illegal drugs were hidden inside the car, the car was frozen pending a search warrant.

After the search warrant was issued out of Roxbury District Court, members of the Youth Violence Strike Force initiated a search of the gold-colored motor vehicle. A search of the car enabled officers to find and take possession of the following items: several plastic bags containing close to 500 grams of a Class B Drug (cocaine), two cell phones and $18,500 dollars in US Currency.

Officers arrested the operator, Jose Maldonado, 34, of Providence, and charged him with Operating without a License, Possession of a Forged Registry Document and Trafficking Class B Drug (cocaine).

Officers arrested the passenger, Firpo Pimentel, 34, of Boston, and charged him with Trafficking Class B Drug (cocaine).