Police believe Kenneth Dennis was selling heroin to support his own drug habit, and planned to sell his five shotguns for drug money.
Kenneth Dennis ORANGE - A 46-year-old Orange man was arrested Friday on drug and weapons charges and police seized some heroin and five unlawful shotguns in a raid on his apartment, according to the office of the Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan.
Kenneth Dennis, 46, of 18 Mechanic Street, Apt 2, was arrested at his residence by members of the Northwestern Anti-crime Task Force, said Mary Carey, spokeswoman for Sullivan. Members of the task force had obtained a search warrant for his apartment as part of its investigation, she said.
He was arrested and charged with possession of heroin with intent to distribute, second offense, distribution of heroin, subsequent offense, five counts of possession of a firearm without a firearms identification card, and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
He is being held pending his arraignment Monday in Orange District Court.
The raid yielded an undisclosed amount of heroin, some scales and packaging materials and the five shotguns, she said.
Police suspect that Dennis was selling heroin to support his own habit and was planning to sell the shotguns to raise money for drugs, she said.
This is the second heroin-related arrest by the Northwestern Anti-Crime Task Force in two weeks.
On April 25, members of the task force and Granby police arrested a 32-year-old Granby man on drug trafficking charges and seized close to 800 bags of heroin packaged for street sales.
Jeremy Bucci, chief trial counsel for the Northwestern District Attorney's Office, the distribution of drugs will not be tolerated in Northwestern region. He said will continue to prioritize drug investigations.
"Today's arrest demonstrates the commitment of state and local law enforcement to combating this issue," Bucci said.
"We will hold accountable those that poison our communities. We will also pay particular attention to those that choose to mix drugs and illegal weapons in our effort to safeguard our citizens against the well documented potential consequences of such criminal activity," he said.