New Bedford fentanyl suspect ordered held on $10K bail – News – southcoasttoday.com

NEW BEDFORD — A transgender who identifies as a female and is charged with trafficking fentanyl is being held on $10,000 cash bail, court records say.

Jose M. Sanchez, 40, of 121 Mashpee Court, New Bedford, was found dangerous at a pre-trial detention hearing Tuesday in New Bedford District Court, but Judge David P. Sorrenti determined there were less restrictive conditions than incarceration to ensure the public’s safety, court documents say.

The judge set $10,000 cash bail, and as of 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sanchez had not posted bail, according to a spokeswoman at New Bedford District Court.

Sorrenti also ordered that Sanchez be fitted with a GPS monitoring device and placed him on a 9 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. curfew, court records say.

Sanchez was arrested June 27, along with a 17-year-old North Dartmouth male, on charges of trafficking fentanyl more than 10 grams and conspiracy to violate the laws, according to court documents. Court information about juvenile defendants is not available to the media.

The New Bedford Police Department’s narcotics unit, Organized Crime Intelligence Bureau, received information that a Hispanic male in his late teens was going to leave 191 Elm St., Apartment 17, with a quantity of fentanyl, court records say.

Detectives set up surveillance of the address and observed the teen carrying a black backpack about 8 p.m. Thursday walking with Sanchez and saw them get into a white Dodge Dart and travel west on Middle Street.  Police stopped the car at Cottage and Union streets as it turned west on Union Street, court records say.

Detectives found a black backpack on the floor board of the passenger seat between the feet of the teen, court records say. Police found 106.4 grams of fentanyl in 44 individually plastic bags packaged for street sales and $4,660 in cash in the backpack.

Police obtained a search warrant from New Bedford District Court for 191 Elm St., Apartment 17, and seized boxes of sandwich bags, two digital scales, a calibration weight and cut corner bags.

Follow Curt Brown on Twitter @CurtBrown_SCT