Two Island men were arrested in separate cases last month for charges relating to distribution of cocaine.
On April 30, James K. Rowell 2nd, 52, of Edgartown, was arraigned on a charge of trafficking in cocaine. Bail was set at $5,000 cash and a pretrial hearing was scheduled for May.
According to the police report, a confidential source told police Mr. Rowell would be arriving on the Island with a significant amount of cocaine. Members of the Martha’s Vineyard Drug Task Force, aided by Buster, a black Labrador, conducted an exterior search of Mr. Rowell’s red Harley Davidson motorcycle after he had disembarked the ferry.
Officers reportedly found 56 grams of cocaine in a surgical glove inside a partially open bag of Dunkin Donuts coffee grounds. Without being cut, the cocaine would have a street value of $5,600, the report says.
The arrest came nearly two weeks after Emile M. Rowe, 29, of Vineyard Haven, was arraigned for a charge of possessing to distribute class B drugs (cocaine). He was arraigned on April 17, with bail set at $5,000.
According to Edgartown Det. Sgt. Chris Dolby in a report filed with the court, the police department received tips over three months from a confidential source that a man, later identified as Mr. Rowe, was selling cocaine in Vineyard Haven.
On April 13, officers executed a search warrant for Mr. Rowe and his Andrews Road residence in Vineyard Haven. Mr. Rowe allegedly attempted to flee and dropped a small bag of cocaine when police approached him.
A search of his home revealed small plastic bags containing a substance consistent with cocaine, $5,000 in cash, a digital scale covered with white powdery residue, a working two-way police radio programmed with all local police channel frequencies and other items consistent with narcotics distribution, the report says.
According to the report, Mr. Rowe had been previously charged with cocaine possession and distribution; the case was continued without a finding. However, Mr. Rowe did not make probation payments, the police report said, so there was an active warrant for his arrest in that case.
A default warrant was issued for Mr. Rowe’s arrest after he failed to appear for an April 20 pretrial hearing, and a bail forfeiture hearing is scheduled for May.
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