New Hampshire Police Nab 2 Suspects In Alleged Drug Ring

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New Hampshire police nab 2 suspects in alleged drug ring

MERRIMACK, New Hampshire � Two suspects who led town and New Hampshire state police officers in a high-speed chase as they fled an undercover drug sting have been nabbed in Lawrence, Mass., New Hampshire police said.

Lawrence police and FBI agents arrested the pair about 4 p.m. on Thursday as they attempted to flee an apartment building under surveillance, police said.

Fernando Frometa, 21, of 138 Range Road in Windham, and Kristy Flahive, 22, of Stoneham, Mass., were charged in Massachusetts with being fugitives from justice.

The pair waived extradition and were returned to New Hampshire on Friday afternoon, where they were expected to be arraigned on felony drug charges, said Merrimack, New Hampshire police Chief William Mulligan.

The two are among nine people recently arrested in town on charges of distributing or conspiring to distribute heroin and cocaine.

The arrests are part of a two-month undercover investigation prompted by the heroin overdose of a 17-year-old who told police of first receiving the drug for free at a local party.

During the investigation, police said they bought about 70 bags of heroin and 4 ounces of cocaine, at an estimated street value of about $9,000.

The investigation is continuing, Mulligan said, as police are questioning suspects in hopes they will cough up names of others involved in trafficking drugs in town.

�It�s an important arrest because they brought these drugs into town,� Mulligan said of the heroin arrests. �Whether this stops the flow or not, I don�t know.�

On Tuesday afternoon, Frometa allegedly used Flahive�s car to smash into a police cruiser as the pair fled officers trying to arrest them after a completed drug deal, New Hampshire police said. The chase began shortly after 3:30 p.m. at the Commons Plaza parking lot at 515 Daniel Webster Highway.

Two Merrimack undercover police officers had met the pair in the large parking lot, which contains a Gold�s Gym, Chinese restaurant and bowling alley, with the intent to exchange cash for heroin, police said.

Flahive drove into the parking lot in a black 1993 Mazda MX6 with Frometa in the front passenger seat, and the two stepped out of the car to meet the undercover New Hampshire officers, said Sgt. Paul Poirier.

Frometa appeared to be nervous and fidgety and immediately made a motion to the officers that he was armed with a handgun, Poirier said.

�He made a motion with his finger to the officer,� Poirier said.

The officers then exchanged $1,900 cash with Frometa for six �bundles� of heroin containing 10 bags of the drug each, Poirier said.

After the transaction was completed, he said, the officers gave a signal to several of their colleagues who were watching from other undercover and marked police cruisers in the area.

As the undercover New Hampshire officers attempted to arrest the two, Poirier said Frometa jumped into the driver�s seat of the Mazda and began to speed away.

The car rammed a marked and an unmarked New Hampshire police cruiser as it fled the parking lot, he said.

Merrimack, New Hampshire police chased the car west on Front Street, then north on Daniel Webster Highway, where it entered the southbound F.E. Everett Turnpike at the Exit 12 tollbooth, Poirier said.

At that point, statepPolice joined the pursuit as the car sped south at speeds in excess of 100 mph, Poirier said.

Merrimack police stopped their pursuit in the area of Exit 10, except for one Merrimack cruiser.

Nashua police were alerted of the chase but were not involved, city police said.

The car continued on through the city�s early southbound rush-hour traffic at high speed, crossing over the Massachusetts line about 4:15 p.m.

New Hampshire State Police lost sight of the car in the area of Route 110 in Chelmsford, Mass., Poirier said.

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New Hampshire police nab 2 suspects in alleged drug ring