Crime & Safety

Two Vermont Men Charged in Enfield Heroin Bust

Two men caught with nearly half a pound of heroin, police say.

A pair of men from Vermont were arrested Monday night in the Brookside Plaza in Enfield after police discovered more than 400 bags of heroin in their vehicle.

Thomas L. Arbuckle, 30, of Springfield, VT and Michael L. Kline, 41, of Chester, VT were each charged with possession of narcotics, possession of narcotics with intent to sell and possession of drug paraphernalia. They were each held in lieu of $25,000 bond, and were arraigned in Enfield Superior Court Tuesday.

Police responded at 10:28 p.m. to a report of a suspicious vehicle in the plaza parking lot near Dress Barn. Upon arrival, they found one man inside a Jeep Compass, and another outside the vehicle. The man outside the Jeep was holding a bunch of empty bags, Police Chief Carl Sferrazza said.

Officers looked in the car window and saw an orange cap containing a syringe in plain view, giving them probable cause to search the vehicle. They found eight small bags containing powder cocaine, and discovered 40 bags of heroin in the glove compartment, Sferrazza said. 

A blue backpack found in the trunk yielded 400 packages of heroin, bringing the aggregate to 440 bags containing 7.8 ounces, or nearly half a pound, of heroin, Sferrazza said.

Arbuckle and Kline admitted they had driven from Vermont to purchase heroin near Bradley International Airport, and stopped at the McDonald's in Brookside Plaza on their way back, Sferrazza said.


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