HOLYOKE — Law enforcement officials arrested at least 12 people and seized massive amounts of heroin and cash during an early morning drug raid Thursday.
In all, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives collected 25,000 bags of heroin worth about $80,000, roughly $100,000 in cash, and three cars — a Porshe, Audi and BMW, Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gulluni told reporters at a press conference following the operation.
Working in conjunction with Gulluni’s office, Holyoke officers and the Massachusetts State Police, federal authorities executed search warrants at apartments on Chestnut and Elm streets in the city’s Churchill neighborhood.
“We really believe we dismantled a significant drug distribution organization with these arrests,” Gulluni told reporters.
At Elm Street, law enforcement officers first mistakenly raided an apartment next to the address they had a warrant for. The tenant and her children were awoken around 6 a.m. as the door was busted open and officers filled the apartment with guns pointed.
The tenant, who did not wish to be identified for safety reasons, said it was the “most scary experience of my life.”
Sam Kopec, the property manager of the apartments buildings on Chestnut and Elm streets, received calls for broken locks and damaged doors around 8 a.m. in the wake of the raid.
“I’m happy the police did something,” Kopec said. He said the drug problem in the area is a “never ending battle.”
An independent contractor, Dave Stanley, who was repairing the damaged doors at Elm Street said it would be an all-day job. The work involved taking out the steel frames, resizing the opening and fixing the dry walls.
Caitlin Ashworth can be reached at cashworth@gazettenet.com.