Shrewsbury Woman Among Three Arrested in Drug Investigation

A Shrewsbury woman is facing charges of possessing heroin after Worcester police investigated a transaction that took place in a parking lot of Lincoln Plaza.

Kayla Muniz, 21, 49 Bailey Road, Shrewsbury, was charged with possession of a Class A substance and violating controlled substance laws, according to a post on the Worcester Police Department's Facebook page.

Knowing that a parking lot in Lincoln Plaza had become a meeting area for street level drug transactions, on Wednesday, April 3, at 10:15 a.m., members of the Worcester Police Vice Squad began surveilling the lot.

Undercover officers noticed a gray Ford Escape parked in the lot that was far away from any nearby store. There were numerous parking spots closer to many of the stores but this vehicle, with two occupants, was parked in a manner that gave the officers concern, said police. 

The vehicle was parked for a short time and drove off, and officers followed the Ford to Dunkin Donuts at 701 Plantation St. Parked in the lot, no one exited the car, said police. Five minutes later, police saw a woman, the driver, later identified as Muniz, get out of the car and get into the passenger side of a brown Honda Accord. She was in the Honda for a short time, and then quickly got out, said police.

Officers approached the Ford and talked with Muniz and her passenger, Connor O'Brien, 22, 130 Old Walpole Rd., Keene, NH. Both were asked to get out and officers recovered a knotted bag of heroin from Muniz's sweatshirt. They also found several hypodermic needles in Muniz's purse, which was still in the car. O'Brien also possessed a hypodermic needle. Both were placed under arrest.

Following the Honda out of the Dunkin Donuts lot, it traveled west on Lincoln Street and officers got the confirmation that Muniz and O'Brien had heroin on them. With that info, they stopped the Honda, and placed the driver, Julio Cartagena, 25, 57 Coral St., Worcester, under arrest. During a search, Cartagena produced 24 knotted bags of heroin, $1,083 in cash and a cell phone, which showed that Muniz's last call was to Cartagena.

The drugs and cash were secured as evidence, said police. Cartagena was charged with Possession of Class A with the Intent to Distribute, Distribution of Class A Substance and Conspiracy to Violate Controlled Substance Laws.

All three suspects were transported to police headquarters for processing.