By Mike Donoghue
Vermont News First
Two Bloomfield, Conn. men are facing state drug charges following a raid by Burlington Police at a South Burlington residence on Sunday morning, officials said.
Carllington Green, 23, and Rhaquise Burgos, 18, were jailed at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans for lack of $50,000 bail, records show.
Interim Burlington Police Chief Shawn Burke said the two men were arrested following a month’s long investigation into a drug trafficking organization operating in the downtown area of the Queen City.
The two out-of-state men were identified as intentionally staying in a location outside of Burlington, Burke said.
Green is charged with both sale and trafficking of fentanyl, possession of cocaine, and dispensing – selling Xylazine, police said.
Burgos is facing charges of fentanyl trafficking, possession of cocaine, false information to police, and possession of a depressant, stimulant and narcotic, records show.
They were traced to the Braeburn Apartments at 1662 Williston Road, the former Ho-Hum Motel near the corner of Airport Road, police said.
Officials said after securing a search warrant from a state judge, the Burlington Police Department’s Emergency Response Unit executed the high-risk raid at the complex, which is now owned by the Champlain Housing Trust of Burlington.
The two men were taken into custody without incident, Detective Lt. Mike Beliveau said.
A search of the residence yielded evidence of drug sales to include crack cocaine, fentanyl, xylazine and United States currency, Beliveau said.
The South Burlington Police and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration assisted in the operation, Chief Burke said.
Both defendants are due in Vermont Superior Court in Burlington for arraignment, police said.
The investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Detective Padric Hartnett at (802) 540-2351.