IPSWICH — Drug surveillance led to the arrest of a Georgetown couple late last week on charges of trafficking a large number of prescription pills, including OxyContin.
The arrests of Brian M. Sotiropoulos, 27, and Cassandra L. Thomas, 25, came after police said they observed a hand-to-hand drug transaction Thursday evening with Peter J. Dolan, 28, of 4 Wayne Ave., Ipswich, who was also arrested.
Sotiropoulos and Thomas were arrested and charged with trafficking opiates, distribution of prescription drugs, illegal possession of prescription drugs, possession of prescription drugs with intent to distribute and conspiring to violate drug laws. Sotiropoulos was also charged with operating a motor vehicle in the commission of a felony.
Dolan was charged with illegal possession of prescription drugs (Percocet, a painkiller) and conspiring to violate drug laws.
Sotiropoulos and Thomas were arraigned Friday at Ipswich District Court in Newburyport. They were held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing, according to Ipswich police.
Police homed in on the couple after Ipswich Detective Edward Gallivan, along with Beverly detectives Sgt. Michael Cassola and Tom Nolan, spotted Sotiropoulos' red Chevy Tahoe on Hammatt Street.
The couple is known to police and they were previously arrested in Ipswich on charges of possession and intent to distribute marijuana and the drug Adderall, a stimulant prescribed to people diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and conspiring to violate drug laws, according to the police report.
The detectives followed Sotiropoulos' Tahoe to Depot Square, where they spotted him making a "transaction," the report said.
Suspecting the transaction to be drug-related, the detectives pulled their unmarked cruiser behind the Tahoe and pulled it over, the report said.
Police found 111 Percocet pills on Sotiropoulos inside a plastic candy container as well as 14 more Percocet pills and 22 OxyContin pills in a plastic baggie. Also, police said Sotiropoulos had $738 in cash. Thomas was in the vehicle, as well, according to police.
Police found four pills of Percocet on Dolan.
Police had the Tahoe towed to the police station. The sport utility vehicle was searched and police found a small bag of marijuana, two pills of Suboxone, a drug used clinically to treat addiction to heroin and narcotic painkillers, and 61 pills of the tranquilizer Xanax in a silver tin.
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