Man arrested in Lawrence; police recover 311 grams of fentanyl

A man was arrested Monday, and authorities recovered more than 300 grams of fentanyl, as well as cocaine and an unknown brown substance, that were allegedly present on him and in a Lawrence apartment, officials said.

Hector Rivera, 39, is facing numerous charges, including trafficking in fentanyl over 10 grams, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, and a default warrant from Dorchester District Court, State Police said in a statement.

State Police, along with federal agents and Lawrence police, went to the apartment at 237 Jackson St. in Lawrence around 3 p.m. Monday to talk to Rivera about a previous drug investigation. Rivera was no longer welcome at the apartment because he no longer paid rent, State Police said.

When they arrived, authorities were given consent to enter the apartment. They found Rivera hiding in a bedroom with his right hand hidden behind a door, State Police said. After a brief struggle, authorities detained Rivera and found a large sheathed kitchen knife behind the door where his hand was, officials said.

A state trooper then searched Rivera and allegedly found plastic baggies of cocaine and fentanyl in his pants pockets, as well as a sock filled with multiple baggies of fentanyl in Rivera’s sweatshirt pocket, officials said.

Rivera allegedly possessed a total of approximately 50 grams of suspected fentanyl, approximately half a gram of suspected cocaine, and another small bag of an “unknown brown substance,” State Police said.

Before he was taken in for booking, Rivera allegedly spoke in Spanish to another person at the scene and said, “take care of my stuff for me,” which was heard by a Lawrence police detective who speaks Spanish, State Police said.

Authorities then obtained and executed a search warrant of the bedroom Rivera was hiding in, State Police said.

“There they discovered additional baggies containing suspected fentanyl, another of suspected cocaine, cell phones, and $604 cash,” State Police said. A machete was also found in the bedroom.

The total amount of fentanyl recovered from Rivera and from the bedroom totaled 311 grams, State Police said.

Rivera was set to be arraigned in Lawrence District Court on Tuesday, State Police spokesman David Procopio said.

Breanne Kovatch can be reached at breanne.kovatch@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter at @breannekovatch.