Lynn man charged with heroin trafficking; held on $300G bail

LYNN – A judge ordered a city man held on $300,000 cash bail after state police reported finding more than 100 grams of suspected heroin hidden behind the radio of the defendant’s car.Luis Marrero, 31, of 84 Bayview Ave. #2, was arrested and charged with heroin trafficking; forgery of a registry of motor vehicles document; refusing to identify himself as the operator of a motor vehicle; and speeding; at 6:09 p.m. Sunday.A plea of not guilty was entered on the defendant’s behalf Monday at his arraignment in Lynn District Court.State Police monitoring traffic on Route 1A northbound at the General Edwards Bridge Sunday evening pulled over a black sedan going 48 miles per hour (mph) in a 30-mph zone, Trooper James Farrell wrote in a report.While checking the driver’s license and registration, Farrell reported noticing “the extremely strong odor” of air fresheners but seeing only two small air freshener trees hanging from the car’s rear-view mirror.Noting that drug traffickers and dealers often try to hide the smell of drugs in their vehicles, Farrell reported seeing several items during the stop which also suggested the driver might be involved in drug transportation. These included rosary beads, multiple cell phones, and a large amount of cash and a picture of Saint Michael in the driver’s wallet, according to police.”Drug traffickers and distributors will often use religious articles for good luck and protection,” Farrell reported.The driver gave police a license identifying himself as Marrero. Police checking the birthdate and Social Security number on the license found Marrero had a criminal record in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.But the physical description of the Luis Marrero on the criminal record did not match the Luis Marrero who had been pulled over, police said.The trooper also found a Pennsylvania license for a Luis Marrero of the same birthdate and Social Security number; but the photo on the license also did not match the person who had been pulled over.Police arrested the driver and fingerprinted him. But the fingerprints added to the trooper’s suspicions.Police reported the FBI had no record of the driver’s fingerprints, even though the Luis Marrero on the license had out-of-state criminal records. Marrero also insisted during booking that his Social Security number was different than the number on the license he gave police. Marrero also said he had never been arrested and never lived in Pennsylvania, police reported.Meanwhile, a K9 unit searching the car smelled evidence of drugs. Troopers found a secret compartment behind the car’s radio and found 18 large individual packets of suspected heroin and a sock with two bags of suspected heroin inside the compartment, according to court documents. The suspected drugs weighed a combined total of 115 grams, according to police.Kelley requested Marrero be held on $500,000 cash bail, saying the charge had an eight-year minimum mandatory sentence and that police were unsure of Marrero’s true identity.”At this point, the Commonwealth really doesn’t know who this individual is? but he is found with a substantial amount of heroin in Lynn, during the time a substantial (heroin) epidemic is happening,” Kelley told the court.But defense attorney Stephen O’Malley said the trooper was “jumping to conclusions” and had no real probable cause to search the vehicle.”He had a hunch and it may have turned out his hunch was right,” O’Malley said. “But what he stopped this defendant for was speeding. The procedure that should have been followed was asking for a license and registration, and given a valid license and registration, the person should have been on his way.”O’Malley requested Marrero be released on personal recognizance because his fingerprints showed he had no record.”The issue is whether he used a valid registration and license,” Judge Dominic Paratore said before ordering Marrero held on $300,000 cash bail.Marrero is scheduled to return to court Sept. 16.