North Andover police arrest alleged dealer and customer in restroom fentanyl drug bust

North Andover police arrested a 24-year-old alleged drug dealer from Boston and his alleged customer inside a restroom at the North Andover Mall on Thursday, the department said.

Luis Gonzalez, 24, a Dominican national who has a Boston address but has been living in a North Andover townhouse for about a month, was held without bail on drug trafficking charges and a detainer from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Detective Lieutenant Eric J. Foulds of the North Andover police said in a phone interview Friday.

Gonzalez’s charges include trafficking in 200 grams or more of fentanyl, possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, and conspiracy to violate drug laws, Foulds said. He faces possible deportation by federal immigration authorities.

Gonzalez’s alleged customer, Erik Stathakis, 40, of Arlington, was released on bail Thursday night after being charged with possession of class A substance, specifically fentanyl; conspiracy to violate drug laws; assault and battery on police officer; and resisting arrest, Foulds said.

Thursday’s arrests were the culmination of a two-week investigation that followed a tip of “suspicious activity” that was possibly related to drugs at the Kohl’s department store at the mall, Foulds said.

Working with the department store’s loss prevention staff, North Andover detectives Michael Reardon and Michael Gilligan periodically surveilled the Kohl’s and identified Gonzalez as the suspect in the alleged drug dealing, Foulds said.

On Thursday, he said, the detectives followed Gonzalez from his townhouse to the department store and watched him enter the restroom, the location where he had allegedly conducted past drug deals.

About 3:30 p.m., Reardon and Gilligan entered the restroom and arrested Gonzalez and Stathakis, who allegedly fought back when cornered, leaving one of the detectives with a minor knee injury, according to Foulds.

The detectives allegedly seized about 94 grams of fentanyl from Gonzalez at the scene, Foulds said, and a later search of the townhouse allegedly turned up 294 1/2 grams of fentanyl, 7 1/2 grams of crack cocaine, and $7,744 in cash.

Opioid abuse is a serious public health issue in North Andover, as in many other communities, Foulds said.

Between 2014 and 2018, North Andover public safety officials responded to 122 reports of overdoses, with 12 of those resulting in fatalities, according to town data. Police administering the overdose-reversal medication naloxone 16 times in that span, and the fire department used the treatment in another 60 incidents.

Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at jeremy.fox@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeremycfox.