Man Operated Drug Factory Out Of Motel Room: West Haven Police

WEST HAVEN, CT — A man was arrested Tuesday on drug and gun charges after police said he was operating a drug factory out of a motel room in West Haven.

The West Haven Street Crime Unit launched an investigation in April into the illegal distribution of crack cocaine and fentanyl by a man who police said was “using a room at the Econo Lodge Motel in West Haven as the base of operations for the drug activity.”

Investigators received information indicating that the man would also accept stolen goods and/or merchandise along with cash as payment for the drugs, according to police.

Alexander Vargas was identified as the suspect during the investigation, according to police.

Police obtained a search-and-seizure warrant for the motel room Vargas was using, along with three arrest warrants from Vargas himself.

Police said around 2 p.m. on Tuesday, May 13, members of the Street Crime Unit, in coordination with the Uniformed Patrol Division, conducted a motor vehicle stop on Vargas. Vargas was taken into custody for four active arrest warrants. Police said an additional warrant from an unrelated case was also discovered.

Once Vargas was in custody, police said the search and seizure warrant was executed on his motel room. The following items were located and seized by police:

• One M4 Carbine .22-style rifle
• One silver Smith & Wesson .22-caliber handgun containing eight rounds of ammunition
• Six boxes of .22-caliber ammunition totaling 269 rounds
• Four high-capacity magazines
• 207.9 grams of crack cocaine, with an estimated street value of $20,790
• 177 wax folds containing a heroin/fentanyl mix, with an estimated street value of approximately $1,770
• 78 various prescription pills (not prescribed to Vargas)
• 40 counterfeit (pressed) fentanyl pills
• An assortment of candy and energy drinks, along with miscellaneous clothing with security tags still attached (likely stolen items, according to police)

Police said Vargas was arrested on the following charges:

• Six counts of possession of a controlled substance
• Operating a drug factory
• Possession with intent to sell more than 1/2 ounce of cocaine
• Two counts of possession with intent to sell a narcotic substance
• Possession with intent to sell a non-narcotic substance
• Illegal possession of an assault weapon
• Four counts of illegal possession of large-capacity magazines
• Two counts of criminal possession of a firearm
• Illegally obtaining prescription pills
• Three counts each of possession of a controlled substance and sale of a narcotic substance pursuant to arrest warrants

Vargas was held in lieu of a $650,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Milford Superior Court.

Police said that in addition to Vargas’s arrest, Nicole Dube and Shalia Russell were also taken into custody.

Dube was charged with possession of a controlled substance and operating a drug factory. Police said she also had outstanding warrants out of Derby, Shelton, Norwalk, and Fairfield, as well as a violation of probation.

Russell had two outstanding warrants out of Fairfield, according to police.

“Another fantastic job done by the Street Crime Unit,” police wrote in a post on Facebook. “More guns and more drugs taken off the street.”