DOVER — A Tuesday morning traffic stop for a broken windshield brought the discovery of nearly 1,400 bags of heroin and a married couple’s arrest, the Dover Police Department said.
The case followed Friday’s arrest when more than 1,000 grams of heroin estimated to be worth $250,000 allegedly were mailed to a Washington man at a hotel, according to authorities. Police said up to 160,000 bags of heroin could have been cut from the packaged drug and described it as the biggest heroin arrest in recent memory.
Dover Police Officer Robert Barrett and K9 partner Britt are pictured with heroin seized during a Tuesday morning traffic stop on South Little Creek Road. (Submitted/Dover Police Department)
While Dover police said the two cases showed success in curbing heroin problems within the city, the amount of drugs involved and recency of the discoveries were troubling,
“It shows the Dover Police Department’s continuous efforts into taking heroin off our streets, but also shows just how serious the issue has become in our area,” spokesman Cpl. Mark Hoffman said.
Driver Gary Stanley II, 30, and passenger Ontara Stanley, 25, were taken into custody without incident after the investigation at 10:33 a.m. in the area of Barrister Place and South Little Creek Road and Barrister Place, spokesman Cpl. Mark Hoffman said.
The vehicle stop was followed by a search by a Dover police officer and K9 partner Britt that located 1,391 bags of heroin weighing a total of 20.865 grams, according to police. Cpl. Hoffman said the narcotics were found in the front driver side of the vehicle after K9 Britt detected an area of alert.
Charges included possession of heroin in a Tier 5 quantity, possession with intent to deliver heroin with aggravating factor, second-degree conspiracy and possession of drug paraphernalia. The aggravating factor was a moving vehicle was involved, police said, and paraphernalia could be anything used to store narcotics.
Bond and incarceration status were not available at the time of the news release, police said.
The Stanleys live in the unit block of Stevenson Drive, police said.
Police said the seized heroin would be logged evidence and stored safely as the case proceeded.