Date: February 3, 2005
Written By: JACK MINCH and DENNIS SHAUGHNESSEY, Sun Staff
LOWELL - More than a dozen SWAT team members stormed a filthy, roach-infested Market Street apartment yesterday morning looking for illegal guns. They came away with drugs instead 50 small bags of crack cocaine.
Three local men were arrested and are facing drug possession and distribution charges.
The raid was part of an ongoing offensive by the Police Department against suspected leaders of a street gang peddling drugs.
Police had already collected two illegal guns during separate raids earlier this week and were hoping for a third when SWAT police from the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC) broke through a door to enter the third-floor apartment at 347 Market St.
The raid was timed to capture the suspects, including Chanvesna "Tony Fat" Pech, while they were still in bed to reduce the danger to police, said Sgt. James Trudel.
Trudel said Pech, 23, who lives in the apartment at 347 Market St., Apt. 3, is known to be violent and has a lengthy criminal record that stems back to when he was a juvenile.
"We wanted to be safe," Trudel said of the raid, which was launched about 10 a.m.
Pech was charged with trafficking cocaine and conspiracy to violate drug laws. Also arrested and facing the same charges was Ngeth Deth, 38, who gave his address as 348 Market St. A third man, Lieng Long, 19, also of 347 Market St., Apt. 3, was charged with possession of a class D substance (marijuana).
Pech and Deth are being held on bail pending their arraignment Monday in Lowell District Court.
Capt. Robert DeMoura called Pech "vicious," and Capt. William Taylor said he has been arrested on numerous occasions for assault and battery with deadly weapons, including broken bottles, baseball bats and even a hammer.
The SWAT team crashed through the front door of the small, walk-up apartment and set off a flash-bang device designed to shock the residents, said Police Superintendent Edward Davis.
There were two pitbull dogs in the apartment, but police quickly cornered them in a back room and closed the door until the animal-control officer arrived.
"What a nasty place that was," Davis said. "It was one of the worst apartments I've been in. It was filthy."
Investigators didn't find guns, but did seize more than 14 grams of crack cocaine that had been separated into 50 small bags. Unlike heroin, which is a depressant, crack is a stimulant that increases the likelihood of violence, DeMoura said.
The SWAT team handed over control of the apartment after the entry, said Chelmsford police Sgt. Paul Cooper, who led the NEMLEC detachment.
Police are becoming concerned that the Asian Boyz, one of the city's street gangs, is getting involved in the narcotics trade and the resulting violence has been increasing in recent months, Davis said.
A stabbing at Showcase Cinemas on Reiss Avenue last Saturday and another at Community Christian Fellowship church at 105 Princeton Blvd. on Tuesday are not directly related to the gang, but are barometers of growing problems, police said.
"The (intelligence reports are) telling us they have guns and we're concerned with that," said DeMoura. "The fights we've been having could lead to something bigger."
The NEMLEC tactical-response team was used because its officers are specifically equipped and trained for forced entries.
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