City man arrested for alleged crystal meth possession
WOONSOCKET – A city man was arrested after two police officers working a special anti-crime detail found an illegal drug in his pockets that’s rarely seen around here – methamphetamine.
Edwin M. Burgos, 30, of 118 Burnside Ave., was charged with second-offense possession of a controlled substance after police detained him on an unrelated warrant on Friday, March 1, according to police reports.
Patrol Officer Andrew Griffith and Detective Sgt. Patrick McGourty were assigned to patrol high-crime zones when they spotted Burgos’ 2015 Durango on South Main Street shortly after 9 p.m. The police officers recognized the vehicle and knew that Burgos was the target of an active warrant for failure to appear in Sixth District Court on a pending charge of drunk driving.
After a routine search of Burgos, police said they found a glass pipe used for smoking methamphetamine and three glassine bags of the drug, with a total weight of 2.1 grams, in his pockets.
The police officers confirmed the substance found in Burgos’ possession was methamphetamine by performing a chemical test on a portion of it at police headquarters.
Also known as crystal meth, methamphetamine is a powerful central nervous system stimulant with a reputation for being dangerously addictive. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says the overwhelming majority of crystal meth seized in the country is smuggled into the United States from Mexico, where it is typically manufactured in clandestine labs.
Court and corrections department records say Burgos served eight months of a five-year sentence at the Adult Correctional Institutions from 2017 to 2018 after a conviction for possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and maintaining a common nuisance.
Burgos had been held on a no-bail warrant for failure to appear in Sixth District Court for arraignment on the drunk-driving charge following his arrest. But after an appearance in Sixth District Court on March 4 a judge modified his status, setting bail at $3,000 for the latter offense and $1,000 for the alleged drug possession. He posted the required surety of 10 percent cash in both cases, but the judiciary’s web site did not immediately provide a date for future hearings in either case.