SPD C3 Officers Seize Illegal Firearm, more than 500 Grams of Crack-Cocaine and more than $22,000 after Traffic Stop

SPD C3 Officers Seize Illegal Firearm, more than 500 Grams of Crack-Cocaine and more than $22,000 after Traffic Stop

Springfield, Mass. — On Sunday July 7th at approximately 6:00 p.m., members of the Springfield Police C3 Units seized more than 500 grams of cocaine and an illegal firearm while arresting three suspects on the 600 block of State Street.

About ten minutes earlier, C3 Officers observed a car with its brake light out and conducted a traffic stop. The driver, later identified as Aqil Rios-Thomas, pulled into a parking lot and quickly exited his car. There were two passengers inside. Rios-Thomas did not have a license and he was detained. Officers then located a loaded firearm inside a bag that was next to the front seat passenger, later identified as Josiaha Ayala. The passenger in the back seat, later identified as Samantha West, was removed from the vehicle pending the investigation.

Officers recovered more than $3200 from Rios-Thomas and more than $3000 from Ayala. In addition to the firearm, officers also located crack-cocaine and oxycodone inside the bag. Inside the vehicle, officers recovered additional ammunition, several bags of marijuana, more than $16,500 in cash and a gun safe. Officers located the key to the safe on Rios-Thomas and inside located two large bags of crack-cocaine. In the back seat officers located crack-cocaine inside a purse and a double-edged knife.

The total weight of the crack-cocaine is approximately 588 grams and the total amount of cash seized is $22,853. All three occupants of the vehicle were placed under arrest.

19-year-old Josiaha Ayala of Springfield, Mass. is charged with: