GREENFIELD — Catherine Scalzo, also known as Catherine Teixeira, 33, of Newport, Vt., was charged with drug trafficking in Greenfield District Court Friday after police discovered 247 wax bags of suspected heroin in her car.
According to a report written by Massachusetts State Police Trooper Jesse Gadarowski of the Shelburne Falls barracks, he stopped Scalzo on Interstate 91 northbound in Bernardston after watching her vehicle, a green Buick Century, swerve three times.
Scalzo was driving, with Honey Daniels, 37, as a passenger. Scalzo said she had swerved when reaching for her lighter, but Gadarowski asked her to step out of the car to perform standardized field sobriety tests.
Gadarowksi noticed Scalzo’s jacket pockets were bulging, and saw track marks on the backs of her hands. According to the report, upon having Scalzo empty one of her pockets, Gadarowski found a used Q-tip with frayed tips. The report states Q-tips are used by heroin users to filter a heroin/water mixture as they draw it into a syringe prior to injection.
In another pocket, Gadarowski saw wax bundles containing a brown powder believed to be heroin inside a glassine bag. There were 24 bundles, each containing 10 wax bags. Scalzo confessed she also had heroin in a small lock box in the car, where Gadarowski recovered 7 more wax bags, three hypodermic needles and several Q-tips, according to the report.
Daniels was allowed to leave with the car, while Scalzo was taken to the Shelburne Falls barracks, and then the Franklin County House of Correction. According to the report, Scalzo’s standardized field sobriety tests showed she was not under the influence.
In all, Gadarowski recovered 247 wax bags of heroin, which he wrote is “more than someone will commonly possess for mere personal use.”
Scalzo was charged with possession with intent to distribute a Class A drug and a marked lanes violation. She was arraigned Friday, posted her $500 bail and will return to court for a pretrial conference May 4.