DAVE KAVANAUGH Journal Staff Writer
Copyright 2006 Albuquerque Journal
LAS VEGAS, N.M. - Undercover police work and surveillance led to the arrest last week of a suspected cocaine dealer and the seizure of more than $20,000 worth of narcotics, officers said.
Anthony Begay, 27, of the 700 block of Seventh Street, faces two counts of trafficking crack cocaine; one count each of conspiracy to traffic, tampering with evidence, resisting, evading or obstructing an officer; possession of drug paraphernalia; and charges of possessing the prescription medications methadone, hydrocodone, diazepam and alprazolam.
Las Vegas Police Chief Tim Gallegos said officers confiscated 554 grams of powdered cocaine and 90 grams of crack cocaine along with $1,500 cash and “tons of paraphernalia.”
“It’s a very significant bust,” Gallegos said. He estimated the street value of the powder cocaine alone at $15,000. “That’s as is. If it were to be processed and cut, it would have been worth $100,000. It wasn’t ready for sale (when it was seized).”
The crack cocaine found has a street value of $5,400, he said.
Also arrested was Armando Chacon-Barraza, 45, of Sapello. Chacon-Barraza, allegedly Begay’s driver at the time of his arrest, is charged with conspiracy to traffic and aggravated battery on an officer.
According to a statement of probable cause filed in magistrate court, an undercover officer obtained Begay’s cell phone number and called him in the early afternoon on May 4 and arranged a meeting at a restaurant on the 2500 block of Seventh Street.
Begay, the officer said, was to sell him one ounce of crack, although Begay allegedly asked whether he wanted to also buy cocaine in the powder form. One team of officers stationed near Begay’s home saw him leaving there in a brown sport utility vehicle and notified the second team, which waited in the restaurant parking lot.
Shortly before 2 p.m., Begay arrived at the lot, police said. When officers identified themselves and informed him he was wanted on an outstanding magistrate court warrant, Begay allegedly ran away, leading officers on a foot chase. Begay was caught near a supermarket a block south of the restaurant.
Police said that during the chase, Begay threw two plastic bags on top of the roof of the market; they recovered the bags shortly thereafter and found them to contain crack cocaine.
While two officers pursued Begay, a third stayed behind with the undercover vehicle and noted Chacon-Barraza trying to drive away in the SUV, according to a second statement of probable cause.
According to the statement, Chacon-Barraza ignored the officer’s orders to park the SUV and instead sped toward and struck the undercover vehicle. The officer - a Region IV Narcotics Task Force Agent - said he narrowly avoided being pinned between the vehicles when Chacon-Barraza backed the SUV toward the police unit. During the altercation, the agent said, he was hit in the right leg by the SUV.
Chacon-Barraza was detained at gunpoint, according to the statement.
After Begay’s arrest, police executed a search warrant and found additional amounts of both crack and powder cocaine and the other items at his home.
May 11, 2006