Police K-9 Stryka Helps Sniff Out $100K Beverly Drug Bust: Police

BEVERLY, MA — Beverly police seized more than $100,000 worth of cocaine and charged two Lynn men with drug trafficking after a police K-9-assisted investigation into a December package theft.

Police said they were investigating the report of the package theft in the area of Bresnahan Court on Dec. 20 when a description of the suspects led Beverly officers Jason Lantych and Josh Spitalieri to stop and question two men inside a vehicle a short distance away.

Police said the investigation "began to take a different direction" and the drug-sniffing K-9 Stryka was called in from the Ipswich Police Department along with his handler Officer Justin Ellerton. Stryka sensed the presence of a package containing possible drugs and alerted the officers.

Police said they then conducted a warrant search of the package and determined that it contained about three kilograms of suspected cocaine with an estimated street value of $105,000.

Moises Antonio Morel Arias, 39, and Michael Marte, 20, both of Lynn, were charged with trafficking more than 200 grams of cocaine and conspiracy to violate drug laws.

Beverly police said that the Lynn Police Department Drug Unit assisted in the arrest of Arias.