Alvarez
Courtesy of Hazleton City Police Department
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Suspected illicit narcotics seized from the residence of Hector Alvarez, who was arrested on Thursday.
Courtesy of Hazleton City Police Department
HAZLETON — A police chase on Thursday afternoon turned into a massive drug bust for the Hazleton Police Department Narcotics Unit.
Hector Alvarez, 33, of Hazleton was arrested after investigators monitoring Alvarez attempted to initiate a traffic stop, which he fled while also discarding a box full of packets of suspected fentanyl.
A search warrant executed on Alvarez’s residence turned up large amounts of methamphetamine, cocaine and additional fentanyl, as well.
According to a release from the Hazleton City Police Department:
While conducting surveillance in the Hazle Township area in conjunction with the Luzerne County Drug Task Force, a narcotics officer from Hazleton City observed Alvarez leaving a residence at 619 Winters Ave.
Alvarez was known to officers from prior arrests and suspected drug activity.
He got into his vehicle, traveling east on Ridge Avenue, and stopped to discard a plastic bag into a trash can along the curb. Officers recovered the bag, and found several opened bags containing suspected methamphetamine and cocaine residue.
The investigators initiated a traffic stop on Alvarez’s vehicle, at which point he fled the scene, making several turns in an attempt to elude the police vehicles.
Alvarez turned against traffic onto the one-way West 4th Street, nearly striking the vehicle of an undercover officer in the process, before exiting the car and attempting to climb over a fence.
He eventually forced his way into a residential yard on McKinley Street, discarding a box which was recovered by police and found to contain approximately 600 glassine packets of suspected fentanyl.
Alvarez was spotted and apprehended by officers without incident, with additional Hazleton patrol officers and officers from West Hazleton assisting in the arrest. A search of Alvarez’s vehicle turned up another box with another 600 packets of suspected fentanyl.
Narcotics detectives were able to obtain a search warrant for the residence on Winters Avenue based off of the evidence recovered during the incident, and uncovered even more illicit narcotics from the residence.
In all, approximately 59.6 pounds of methamphetamine, 107 grams of cocaine, 39 grams of crack cocaine and additional packaging materials were seized from the residence.
Alvarez was arraigned just after midnight on Friday morning in front of Magisterial District Judge James Dixon.
He was charged with three felony counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. Dixon denied bail, citing the defendant as a “danger to society,” according to court documents.
Alvarez was lodged at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility, where he will await a preliminary hearing scheduled for Feb. 17.