The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Torrington man charged with drug possession, intent to sell
TORRINGTON — A city man is facing charges after police say they found him in possession of bath salts, marijuana and cocaine.
Samuel R. Gates, 32, of 109 Palmer Bridge St., Apartment 3, was arrested Oct. 18 and charged with possession with intent to sell/dispense cocaine, possession of a controlled substance (bath salts), use of drug paraphernalia, drug possession in a school zone, possession of less than four ounces of marijuana and operation of drug factory, according to a probable cause report in the Superior Court file for his case.
Gates was seen engaging in “hand-to-hand actions that I know through my training and experience includes an exchange of money for drugs” in a vehicle in the parking lot of the Burger King at 451 East Main St., a Torrington police officer wrote in the report.
Police found marijuana in the vehicle as well as a black backpack in the vehicle’s trunk “that contained a large amount of suspected marijuana, clear plastic packaging, a scale, and several bags of a white powdery chunk like substance and a clear plastic bag containing a substance that later tested positive for being Bath Salts,” according to the report.
A wallet in the vehicle contained several credit cards in Gates’ name and “a large sum of cash made up of small denominations which is consistent with narcotics sales,” police said.
“The large amount of cash, narcotics, marijuana, packaging materials, and paraphernalia inside the vehicle was determined to be consistent with street level drug/narcotic sales and distribution,” said the officer in the report.
Gates was arraigned in Superior Court Thursday. The charge of operation of a drug factory was dismissed and his bond was reduced from $5,000 to a promise to appear.
Gates was next scheduled to appear in court Nov. 17.
Bath salts are a synthetic stimulant that is “chemically similar to amphetamines, cocaine, and MDMA,” according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.