Teens face charges of heroin trafficking

A 16 year old from the Bellows Falls area has allegedly been traveling regularly to Connecticut to pick up 500-600 bags of heroin at a time and delivering them to a contact in Springfield.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20150719/THISJUSTIN/707199919

Teens face charges of heroin trafficking By ERIC FRANCIS CORRESPONDENT | July 19,2015 WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Two teenagers from the Bellows Falls area face heroin trafficking charges after they were pulled over by police on Interstate 91. Devon Hardy, 16, of Westminster, pleaded innocent to felony counts of heroin trafficking and heroin possession. He was released from White River Junction criminal court on the condition that he stay at his mother’s residence while his case is pending. Breanna Collins, 17, of Bellows Falls, pleaded innocent to the same charges and a misdemeanor charge of possessing Ecstasy. She was released to the custody of her mother. Sgt. Michael Studin of the Vermont State Police said the pair were in a rental car with New York plates on the evening of June 17 when he came up behind them in his cruiser. Studin wrote in an affidavit that the driver, Hardy, appeared to panic at the sight of the police car and abruptly changed lanes to get off and then right back on Interstate 91 at Exit 6 in Rockingham. Studin said he became suspicious, so he turned around and got behind them again, and they sped away from him at 73 mph. After being stopped for speeding, “Hardy repeatedly said he was having a bad day and that he hated days like today,” the officer said. Trooper Zach Gauthier arrived and “smelled the odor of burnt marijuana emanating from the vehicle,” the affidavit said. Hardy told the troopers he’d been stopped in Connecticut in February and “was found to be in possession of eleven grams of raw heroin, 50 bags of heroin and seven grams of powdered cocaine,” Studin said. Hardy had a roll of $1,050 in his pocket, and Studin said “the cash was secured with a small black rubber band that I recognized as the kind that is commonly used to secure 10 bags of heroin into a bundle.” Officers asked Collins if she were hiding any drugs. “Collins stuttered for a few seconds … reached into her bra and removed a small Ziplock bag which contained three pills that Collins identified as being Ecstasy,” Studin wrote. Collins said she was carrying more drugs in her body and she was brought to police barracks where she could remove them in front of female trooper, the affidavit said. That package contained 50 bundles, or 500 individual bags, of heroin with a street value of $12,500, Studin said. Collins allegedly told police Hardy had been traveling regularly to Connecticut to pick up 500-600 bags of heroin at a time and delivering them to a contact at the Exit 7 truck stops or at the Springfield boat landing. Studin said Hardy “was adamant about having no knowledge about the 500 bags that were seized (and) stated that he is not involved in the drug business.” However, the trooper said Hardy’s cellphone contained messages showing “he was actively involved in the distribution of … illegal narcotics in southern Windsor and Windham counties for at least the last few months, if not longer.”