Peabody drug trio held without bail

PEABODY – A judge ordered three alleged drug traffickers held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing after police say they found them with 11 kilos of cocaine in the Peabody Holiday Inn.Police arrested Gerardo Rodriguez Flores, 27, of Tucson, Ariz., Jason Grilli, 38, of Laval, Quebec and Valentine Torres, 33, of Juarez, N.M. Wednesday afternoon and charged them with trafficking in cocaine and conspiracy to violate drug laws.Judge Richard Mori ordered the suspects held without bail on Thursday, pending the dangerousness hearing scheduled for Dec. 29 during an arraignment in Peabody District Court.”Whether intended for Massachusetts or Quebec,” Mori said. “It’s a huge amount of drugs.”The investigation involved local, national and even international collaboration, according to a police report submitted by Peabody Police Lt. Scott Richards.Peabody Police Capt. Dennis Bonaiuto said the amount of drugs police seized was the “largest that I’ve seen” in 23 years on the force.”I think that over the years, (I) don’t recall us being involved in this city with many other drug investigations that involved this level of quantity,” Bonaiuto said. “This is an unusually large quantity of illegal drugs.”Royal Canadian Mounted Police told Peabody Police Wednesday morning that a transfer of “large amounts of cocaine” was planned for that afternoon at the Holiday Inn on Newbury Street in Peabody, according to Richards’ report. The deal was between an unidentified Hispanic male and a Canadian male who went by the name “Bobby Clark,” according to the report.Representatives of the Essex County Drug Task force, U.S. Customs and Drug Enforcement Administration joined Peabody Police in staking out a room registered to Valentine Torres Munoz.Grilli arrived in a van with Quebec plates, then entered the hotel and identified himself as “Bobby Clark” when he asked a receptionist to call Torres’ room. Grilli went to the room, picked up a blue duffel bag, and then began leaving the hotel, the report states. Police arrested Grilli and opened the bag.”I unzipped the top and observed what appeared to be several kilos of suspected cocaine,” Richards wrote.Police then went to the hotel room and arrested Torres.Capt. Valentine Castillo, a spokesman for the Arizona National Guard, confirmed that Flores was a Sergeant in the Arizona Army National Guard, and said he could not recall a similar incident involving an Arizona National Guard member.Castillo said he was not aware of any disciplinary incidents involving Flores.Nathalie Sousson, who identified herself as Grilli’s wife, said in a telephone interview that her husband has never been in trouble with the law before, and did not know about the charges he faced.”I’m very, very concerned – in shock, I don’t know what’s happening,” Sousson said Thursday afternoon. “I’m very much in shock. I wish I could speak to him to see what’s going on? This is crazy.”Constable Erique Gasse, a spokesperson for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said that the drugs seized were headed to Canada and that the arrests were part of an ongoing investigation.He said that the RCMP believed the deal was a single incident, but couldn’t comment further on an ongoing investigation.Attorneys representing each of the defendants argued that the seizure was unlawful and that police had scant evidence to arrest the men.The suspects appeared in court dressed in street clothes. They did not speak to the judge during the short arraignment, and only conferred with court-appointed attorneys and a translator during a brief recess.Cyrus Moulton can be reached at [email protected].