Two Valley men were arrested on drug charges this week, when Ansonia Police and members of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force searched a Derby home and found 10 pounds of marijuana and $18,000 in cash.
One suspect already faces more than a dozen drug charges from a marijuana plant growing bust in Ansonia last year.
Ansonia Police arrested Cheyne Mazza, 27, of 34 Wedge Hill Road, Oxford and Philip Negron, 27, of 11 McKinley Ave., Derby.
Mazza was charged with possession of more than 4 ounces of marijuana, possession with intent to sell, conspiracy to possess marijuana, and conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to sell.
Negron was charged with possession of more than 4 ounces of marijuana, possession with intent to sell, conspiracy to possess marijuana, conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to sell and possession of narcotics.
Police went to Negron’s home on McKinley Avenue on Tuesday to investigate marijuana trafficking in the area, according to a statement released Wednesday afternoon by Lt. Wayne Williams.
When police arrived, they saw Mazza sitting in a car in the driveway, according to the statement. When Mazza left the car, police saw cash and marijuana inside, Williams said.
After discovering the drugs and money, police applied for and received a search warrant for the McKinley Avenue home, Williams said.
Police searched the home with the Ansonia canine unit and found a “large amount of high grade marijuana” and about $18,000 in cash. Police found 10 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of $100,000, Williams said.
Police also found a small amount of prescription narcotics and items used to grow marijuana, Williams said.
Mazza is already facing several drug charges from an incident in Nov. 2008. when Ansonia police found 1,000 marijuana plants at two homes on Root Avenue in Ansonia. Williams said this week’s investigation was a part of the follow-up from that major bust last year.
The two men were scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Derby on Wednesday afternoon.
