North Reading Police Charge Man With Trafficking Fentanyl

The man who fled on foot after a traffic stop sparking a K9 and air support search was arrested late Wednesday afternoon and charged with fentanyl trafficking.

Manuel Pina, 21, of Lawrence was arrested after taking off during a traffic stop on Lowell Road. State Police captured him in Lawrence after North Reading Police notified area law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for a suspect matching his description. The State Police Air Wing was used in the search.

At 4:03 p.m., a North Reading Police Officer performed a traffic stop of a white Honda that had been observed running a red light at the intersection of Main Street and Lowell Road. Shortly afterward, the driver, identified as Pina fled on foot before being picked up by another man in a minivan. An investigation ensued, and State Police soon radioed that they had the suspect in Lawrence.

North Reading Police recovered a large plastic bag containing 22 smaller plastic bags filled with a powdery substance. That substance was determined to be 14 grams of Fentanyl, the dangerous synthetic opioid that is responsible for a sharp increase in overdose deaths around the commonwealth recently.

Pina was charged with:

• Trafficking in a Class A Substance (Fentanyl)

• Failure to Stop for Police

• Giving a False Name and Address to a Police Officers

• Failure to Stop for a Red Light

• Operating a Motor Vehicle with a Suspended License (Subsequent Offense)

Pina was being held last night at the North Reading Police Department pending his arraignment Thursday in Woburn District Court.

"Fentanyl is an extremely dangerous substance that has made the nationwide opioid epidemic even worse," North Reading Chief Michael Murphy said. "Thankfully, multiple police departments worked together to quickly locate an alleged drug trafficker and remove a quantity of drugs from circulation."

The Wakefield Police Department assisted at the scene with its K-9 unit, and the Wilmington Police Department also assisted North Reading Police.