20 arrested in Norwich drug sting

GREG SMITH
Updated ·2 min read
Norwich police arrested 19 adults and one juvenile while seizing drugs and guns Thursday October 7, 2010 at the culmination of nine-month long investigation into the local drug trade by the Norwich police narcotic unit.
Norwich police arrested 19 adults and one juvenile while seizing drugs and guns Thursday October 7, 2010 at the culmination of nine-month long investigation into the local drug trade by the Norwich police narcotic unit.

Editor's Note: Merzilas Braboy received a Certificate of Pardon from the State of Connecticut Board of Pardons and Paroles on Sept. 1, 2021. He was pardoned on the two charges stemming from this incident, as well as the charges for that had led to the previous jail time and probation. 

Norwich police arrested 20 people and seized drugs and guns Thursday, the culmination of a nine-month investigation by the narcotics unit into the city’s drug trade.With 15 arrest warrants and three search warrants in hand, police met before dawn with federal agents and a group of local law enforcement officials. The group fanned out across the city to hit targeted locations as part of “Operation Trap Door.”Norwich Police Lt. Stephany Bakoulis said three teams simultaneously raided Norwich residences at 87 Franklin St., Apt. C; 35 Boswell Ave., Apt. 1; and 9 Goldberg Ave. Residents at each of the locations face charges related to the sale of either marijuana, crack cocaine or heroin.By the end of the day, police had confiscated more than 600 bags of heroin and five firearms, along with $1,000 in cash, crack cocaine, marijuana and a motor vehicle. Throughout the day police sent a steady stream of defendants to the lockup facility at the Norwich courthouse. A juvenile was also taken to a detention center.“I think we made out pretty well,” Bakoulis said. “We took five firearms and a decent amount of drugs off the streets. Our guys in narcotics put a lot of work into this. I think it paid off.”Anonymous tipsMuch of the investigation stemmed from complaints made to the Norwich police tip line. Information provided anonymously from residents and business owners led to development of confidential sources, undercover drug buys and surveillance by narcotics officers.Norwich police were assisted in Thursday’s operation by Plainfield police, the state Probation Department, Montville police, the Montville Resident Troopers Office and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency.Some of the names of those arrested were familiar to police.Among those arrested was Merzilas Braboy, a 20-year-old Norwich man who was sentenced in May to 16 months in prison as one of three men charged in connection with a 2008 shooting on Broadway. He was on probation at the time of his arrest on charges that included sale of crack cocaine.

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: 20 arrested in Norwich drug sting