Illegal alien, others busted for selling drugs at playground
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Illegal alien, others busted for selling drugs at playground
Saturday, 15 July 2006
By L.A. TARONE
tarone@standardspeaker.com
The Hazleton Police Department made another drug bust.
Another illegal alien was involved. About 5:30 p.m. Friday, police arrested four males – three adults and a juvenile – for selling crack cocaine at Pine Street Playground,.
Arrested were: Jesus Rivera-Santos, 23, Freeland; Ivan Garcia-Lopez, 34, no known address; Miguel Cruz, 20, Freeland; and a male juvenile.
Cpl. Dave Bunchalk said police had received several tips on the Drug Tip Hotline and conducted surveillance at the playground Friday afternoon.
“Police observed the males selling drugs to several individuals at the playground,” a press release read.
Bunchalk said police moved in and arrested the four without incident. He said police found several hundred dollars among them, and quantities of crack on each.
While the arrest went off without incident, trying to identify them was another matter. One gave police four different forms of identification with four different names.
While the arrests happened at 5:30, it wasn’t until almost 11 p.m. until police had solid IDs on each.
Rivera-Santos is in the country illegally. He had three different aliases. He was charged with criminal conspiracy and possession with intent to deliver. He was also wanted on an outstanding warrant from Luzerne Country Adult Probation Office.
Police contacted the federal Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which will begin deportation proceedings. ICE identified him as Rudy Jonatan Guidiel-Rivera, though if that actually was his real name wasn’t clear at press time.
Cruz is a legal resident, though he first told police was born in New York. Police determined he is in the country on a visa. However, if convicted of criminal conspiracy and possession with intent to deliver, he will be deported.
Garcia-Lopez initially identified himself as Higinio Cancel Cordova and showed a Puerto Rican birth certificate. However, a fingerprint check showed his real name to be Garcia-Lopez. Since he was born in Puerto Rica, he is an American citizen. He was charged with possession of crack cocaine, criminal conspiracy and possession with intent to deliver. He is also wanted on a felony drug charge from New York.
The unidentified juvenile was also charged with criminal conspiracy and possession with intent to deliver.
The three adults were taken to Luzerne County Prison just after midnight Saturday. The juvenile was taken to Luzerne County Juvenile Detention Center, Pittston Township, earlier.
Bunchalk called the arrest part of an “ongoing effort to rid the city of drug activity,” and said it was the latest example of the department’s “proactive approach.”
An angry Mayor Lou Barletta was in City Hall as the suspects were taken to country prison.
“I despise the fact that they were selling drugs at a playground – which I consider sacred ground,” Barletta said. “Children should be free to play at playgrounds and not be menaced by this kind of stuff.”
The arrests came less than 24 hours after City Council passed his Illegal Immigration Relief Act, and only about four hours after he signed it into law.
“Well, there’s another illegal alien who’ll be leaving the city and the country,” Barletta
