Cranston Police execute search warrant and arrest two suspects suspected of distributing the deadly drug Fentanyl
Colonel Michael Winquist, Chief of the Cranston Police Department, announces the arrest of two suspects after the Department’s Special Investigation Unit conducted a narcotics investigation and executed a search warrant at a home located at 70 Glenwood Avenue, 2nd floor.
On December 2, 2016, members of the Cranston Police Department Special Investigations Unit arrested Andrea Carpentieri, age 26, and Nelson Buitrago, age 36, both of 70 Glenwood Avenue (2nd floor) as part of an ongoing effort to identify and arrest individuals distributing the deadly drug Fentanyl in the City of Cranston. Fentanyl is a key ingredient commonly present in heroin which is responsible for a disturbing number of deaths nationwide. A court-authorized search warrant was issued for 70 Glenwood Avenue and executed by members of the Special Investigations Unit, K-9 unit and Patrol Officers. Upon entering the Glenwood Avenue home both suspects were found in a locked bedroom with Carpentieri hiding in a closet. Seized was approximately fifty-eight grams of suspected Fentanyl, a 2008 Saturn vehicle, scales and packaging materials indicative of drug distribution, along with $3,205 in United States currency believed to be proceeds derived from the illegal sales of narcotics.
Carpentieri was arraigned by a Justice of the Peace and ordered held without bail as a probation violator. Buitrago was also arraigned by a Justice of the Peace and ordered held without bail as a bail violator. Both suspects were formally arraigned in the Third District Court in Warwick on December 5, 2016 and denied bail pending a hearing before the Superior Court.
Colonel Winquist stated, “The arrests of both suspects and the seizure of a significant quantity of Fentanyl eliminates an alleged distribution operation in our City, which if allowed to continue would likely resulted in deadly consequences for many. We, as a police department, will continue to make removing the Fentanyl and Heroin from our neighborhoods a priority and will dedicate whatever resources are necessary to accomplish this goal.”