Shelton and Ansonia police arrested three people early Thursday, after they conducted a drug raid on Cliff Street.
The federal Drug Enforcement Administration, the statewide regional narcotics task force and Derby police also participated — serving three search warrants at three apartments at 69, 65 and 63 Cliff St. at about 6 a.m. Thursday.
Police said they seized crack cocaine, heroin, marijuana, packaging materials and guns.
Police arrested:
- Vince Hancock, 37, of 69 Cliff St. for operating a drug factory, criminal possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of heroin, possession of crack cocaine, possession of marijuana, possession of narcotics within 1,500 feet of a school, and three counts of risk of injury to a minor. Hancock has one prior drug related conviction, after a 2007 raid at a different Shelton apartment. Click here to read a past article about that incident. Police also served four arrest warrants on Hancock for drug related accusations based in Ansonia.
- Arhely Gonzalez-Cuevas, 24, of 69 Cliff St. for possession of heroin, possession of crack cocaine, possession of marijuana, possession of narcotics within 1,500 feet of a school, and three counts of risk of injury to a minor. There were two infants and a small child in the apartment “in immediate vicinity of drugs,” police said.
- Timothy Morales, 24, of 65 Cliff St. for possession of heroin, possession of crack cocaine and possession of narcotics within 1,500 feet of a school.
No one at 63 Cliff St. was arrested after police conducted a search there.
“This operation today was the result of a six month undercover investigation into drug dealing in the lower Naugatuck Valley,” Captain Michael Madden said in a statement. “The cooperative efforts by the agencies involved put a major dent into criminal activity in this area. The investigation is ongoing and more arrests are possible.”
The three children were taken to Griffin Hospital for evaluation because they were close to the drugs in the home, Madden said. The two infants were in cribs. The ages of the three children were not available.
Police were still going through the drugs and guns found in the two homes, Madden said. He did not have specific details about how much, or what types of guns were found.
Madden said some cash was also found inside the apartments, but didn’t have a specific dollar amount.
The items were being inventoried at Shelton Police headquarters, and the three suspects are in the process of being interviewed, Madden said.
About 40 police officers were involved in the raid, Madden said. Four police dogs — from Shelton, Derby, Ansonia and the state — were also used during the searches.
Police are still investigating, and said more charges could be pending for the three people arrested. More arrests could be made in the investigation, Madden said.
“We’re looking at other criminal activity besides narcotics,” Madden said, declining to give specific information about what else the department was investigating.
Several neighbors on the street Thursday afternoon declined to comment about the drug raid.
Ansonia police said the warrants for Hancock charged him with four counts of possession of narcotics, and four counts of sale of narcotics — specifically crack cocaine and heroin.
He was held on a $200,000 bond for those charges, with a tentative court date of Sept. 30 for the charges, according to Ansonia police.
The arrests warrants were a result of narcotics complaints received from citizens in Ansonia and ongoing narcotics investigations, according to a statement from Ansonia police Lt. Andrew Cota. Police declined to release more information because the investigation is ongoing.
Shelton police had not set a bond amount for Hancock as of 2 p.m.
Tony Spinelli contributed to this report.