Three people are detained by state police in Western Massachusetts for trafficking cocaine and heroin
Three Vermont individuals were busted for trafficking huge amounts of cocaine via Massachusetts using a set of temporary license plates.Massachusetts State Trooper Gregory Moretti and his field training partner Trooper Kurt Wilkins were on patrol on Route 91 northbound in Bernardston just after 9:30 p.m. on Friday, November 4. Trooper Moretti observed a white Subaru WRX pass him in the opposite lane with a temporary tag that was unreadable even from a close distance of just a few feet.When Trooper Moretti searched the few information on the temp plate and came up empty-handed, he stopped the car. The white Subaru stopped after traveling for more than a half mile, which is a very long time. Three people were in the car when it was stopped, and the two troopers were able to observe them as they moved around and ducked out of sight.After the car had stopped, the Troopers had a conversation with the driver, Joshua Francis, 39, of Essex, Vermont. Francis admitted that his Vermont driver’s license was out of date, and the two troopers saw signs of drug use and paraphernalia, including a needle that was clearly visible inside the automobile, inside the vehicle. Francis’ Vermont license was in fact suspended, the two Troopers discovered after conducting an investigation with their cruiser mobile data terminal.Due to the car’s hesitation to stop, signs of drug use, the presence of needles inside the vehicle, and the fact that the driver’s license was suspended, Troopers made Francis and the two passengers, Devon Thomas, 31, of Hartford, Connecticut, and Tanya Francis, 39, also of Essex, Vermont, step outside the car so that a search could be done. Joshua Francis was spoken to, and it was learned that there was heroin in the car. 62 grams of a white powdery material thought to be crack cocaine and over 30 packages of heroin were found during the search. Tanya Francis, Devon Thomas, and Joshuah Francis were all taken into custody and sent to the Shelburne Falls Barracks for booking. They were accused of trafficking cocaine, possessing heroin, and conspiring to break the law when they appeared in court at Greenfield District Court. Joshua Francis also received tickets for operating a vehicle without a license and for failing to display a license plate.
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