PEABODY – The Peabody Police Department announced it seized more than 12 grams of a substance believed to be cocaine, a firearm, and more than $300,000 in U.S. currency during execution of a search warrant at an Avalon Drive apartment on Friday.
Jason Carrion, 29, of 2233 Avalon Drive was arrested and charged with possession of a Class B substance with intent to distribute (cocaine) and unlawful possession of a firearm (a handgun).
Peabody Police Chief Thomas Griffin said this was unusual for a local department conducting a street-level narcotics investigation.
“It’s something you don’t see very often in an investigation of this kind, so I am extremely happy with the way things turned out,” he said.
He added that Carrion was arraigned in Peabody District Court Friday following the arrest.
In a statement issued on Friday, the Department said it received information regarding “illegal activity in the Essex Apartment Homes Complex on Avalon Drive in Peabody” in December 2022.
Following a “lengthy investigation,” the department applied for and was granted a search warrant from Peabody District Court to search the premises occupied by Carrion at 2233 Avalon Drive.
The search warrant was executed on Feb. 17 by members of the Peabody PD, Ipswich PD, and Littleton PD, which provided a K-9 officer and his K-9 Vojak.
“With the help of our NEMLEC (Northeastern Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council) partners the Peabody Police Department worked diligently to arrest this individual and interrupt the distribution of cocaine in this area,” Griffin said. “Our guys did a great job throughout this investigation and I was very happy that we were able to successfully put this together. We will continue to respond to these issues on our streets and in our neighborhoods and do our best to keep our community safe.”
