Pinky's Pizza Owner Arraigned on Drug Trafficking Charge

The owner of a local pizza shop had his bail set at $10,000 last week on a charge alleging he was caught loading about 250 pounds of marijuana into his pick-up truck in August.

Nikita Yanakopulos, 34, of Medford, was arraigned in Middlesex County Superior Court last Thursday on a charge of trafficking over 100 pounds of marijuana, according to a press release from District Attorney Gerry Leone. Prosecutors have estimated the pot was worth about $750,000.

Yanakopulos, the owner of Pinky's Pizza on Main Street in Medford, was arrested on Boston Street in Everett on Aug. 26 after investigators watched him load boxes full of marijuana into the back of his pick-up truck, according to a press release from district attorney Gerry Leone.

Investigators were tipped off that Yanakopulos would be picking up a large quantity of pot in Everett and began watching him on Route 16, prosecutors said. After watching him load several boxes into his truck, police followed him until he stopped at a drive through restaurant on Revere Beach Parkway, where he was arrested, police said.

In all, investigators seized 250 pounds of high-grade marijuana, which were held in 213 plastic bags of marijuana inside the 11 boxes in his truck, prosecutors said.

He had his bail set at $10,000 cash by Magistrate Michael Sullivan in Superior Court in Woburn on Jan. 12 on the condition he surrender his passport. His next scheduled court date is a Feb. 22 pre-trial conference.

Pinky's has remained open since Yanakopulos was arrested in August.