Police believe there is less crack cocaine and fentanyl being sold on the streets of Plymouth today following two busts this week that resulted in the arrest of three men for alleged drug dealing.
On Tuesday, they charged two Boston men after approaching a suspicious car idling on a Plymouth street, police reports said. Police reported that they allegedly discovered crack cocaine and fentanyl — including 12 baggies of crack hidden in one of the suspect’s pants.
The next day, the Plymouth Police narcotics unit arrested a man they had under surveillance for suspected crack distribution. During court-approved searches, police found what they say was a 14.7-gram bag of the drug.
The department’s yellow lab, Oakley, assisted in both drug busts. He is certified in detection of narcotics including cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine, according to his bio on the department’s website.
The two Boston men, Tyre Wade and Melik Harrison, were ordered held until a dangerousness hearing Friday in Plymouth District Court. Both men, who pled not guilty at their arraignments Wednesday, had previous drug convictions, according to records.
They were arrested while sitting in a rental Ford Edge outside of 30 Thomas Ave., police reports said. Between them, they had more than 40 grams of cocaine and more than 20 grams of fentanyl, police alleged.
Harrison, the driver, allegedly tossed a plastic bag containing cocaine out of the car as officers approached, police wrote.
As additional officers arrived as backup, several people emerged from the house, yelling at police and pointing their phones at them as if recording them, police reports said.
Harrison was arrested for possession of cocaine and placed in a cruiser. After he was removed from the car, a search allegedly yielded four plastic bags containing crack and one bag with what appeared to be fentanyl.
On a second search of the Ford, police said, they found a small scale on the floor.
Oakley searched Wade at the scene, finding a plastic bag containing what was believed to be cocaine in his pants, police said.
Police also found seven cellphones and Benefiber, a laxative commonly used as a cutting agent in the manufacture of narcotics, they wrote.
Harrison, 26, of Boston, served 60 days in jail last year after being convicted of possession of Class B in Wareham District Court, police reports said.
Wade, 33, of Roxbury, was found guilty of possession of cocaine in 2019 in Barnstable Superior Court and was on pre-trial release after being indicted by a Barnstable County jury in 2023 on charges of cocaine trafficking, court records show.
Both men are facing multiple drug charges, including serious trafficking offenses.
Harrison is facing fentanyl trafficking charges. If convicted, he would serve a mandatory minimum sentence of 3.5 years in state prison.
Wade is charged with cocaine trafficking, which carries a prison sentence of between two and 15 years.
No lawyer was identified on court records for either Wade or Harrison.
In a separate incident Wednesday, Plymouth police arrested Allen Fortes, of Stoddard Street. He had been under surveillance for suspected crack distribution.
Members of the department’s narcotics unit conducted simultaneous searches of his home and car.
Police stopped him at 4:17 p.m. while he was driving on Water Street near Plymouth Rock and placed him under arrest. More than a half dozen police vehicles converged on the scene.
At Fortes’s home, police found two digital scales with cocaine residue and baggies, court records said.
While he was being booked at Plymouth police headquarters, K9 Oakley let the officers know that he sniffed narcotics on Fortes’s body. The search turned up a 14.7-gram bag of what was later determined to be crack, police said.
They also seized two cellphones, packaging materials, and weight calibrators, “further supporting drug distribution activity,” police said.
Fortes, 31, was charged with possession of crack, a misdemeanor, and possession of crack with intent to distribute, a felony.
He failed to appear for his arraignment on Thursday and a default warrant was issued for his arrest.
It was unclear from court records whether Fortes has a lawyer. He could not be reached for comment.
Plymouth police declined to comment on the arrests or answer questions.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindepndent.org.