WILLIAMSBURG — Police seized 150 bags of heroin during a traffic stop Sunday afternoon in the center of Williamsburg and arrested a North Adams woman on drug and motor vehicle charges.
Police Sgt. Jason Soukup stopped Nicole Skovera, 44, for speeding on Route 9 at about 1 p.m. as she drove west through town, according to police.
During the stop, Soukup discovered that Skovera was in possession of heroin and allegedly under the influence of drugs, police said. She was arrested and charged with possession of a Class A substance, operating while under the influence of drugs, and speeding.
“This isn’t the largest amount that we have seen but it is a significant amount,” Williamsburg Police Chief Denise Wickland said of the heroin seized.
The 150 bags were valued at $500.
According to Wickland, the largest amount of heroin seized in Williamsburg was during an arrest earlier in the year, in which 400 bags of the drug were confiscated.
Wickland noted there has been a steady increase in Williamsburg in the number of arrests involving heroin possession over the past year, which corresponds with national trends.
In the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s “National Heroin Threat Assessment Summary” released in June, the agency reported that seizure data indicates that heroin availability is increasing in areas throughout the nation, particularly in the Northeast and in areas of the Midwest. The report states that heroin seizures in the United States has increased 80 percent over the last five years.
“We are definitely seeing more of it here. Wickland said. “This was a very good arrest.”