Crime & Safety

Major Drug Bust in Norwalk Nets 4 Kilos of Cocaine, $250K Cash

Written by  Leslie Yager

On Thursday, a joint investigation of Norwalk Police Dept and both New Haven and Bridgeport offices of the DEA resulted in the arrest of three men in Norwalk: 

Robert Alfaro, 32, of 175 Hope St in Stamford; Salvador Cardenas, 44, of 24 Walter Ave in Norwalk; and Salvador Chavez, 43, of 763 Huntington Ave in Bridgeport. 

A Norwalk investigator with a dual assignment to the task force with the Bridgeport office of the DEA conducted surveillance over a length of time and was able to get intelligence on high level drug activity in the city of Norwalk. 

Alfaro, Cardenas and Chavez were targeted at various locations in Norwalk and were observed switching cars several times at various locations throughout the city in an attempt to elude tracking. 

On Thursday a transaction between Cardenas and Alfaro was observed. Chavez was observed facilitating transport between Cardenas and Alfaro, acting as a conspirator. 

At 3:30p.m. on Thursday, members of the task force stopped Robert Alfaro in his car on East Ave and task force officers recovered 1 kilo of cocaine from the passenger seat of the vehicle. At that point Alfano, Chavez and Cardenas were all stopped in multiple locations throughout the city and placed under arrest for the transactions police observed.

Police then obtained a search warrant for for Cardenas' residence at 24 Walter Ave,  a cottage the landlord indicated he had rented to Cardenas for about a year. 

The search warrant was executed at 9:30pm Thursday night. In the process of the search, police retrieved three kilos of cocaine from a trap that had been built behind a bathroom mirror. The cocaine was wrapped and sealed within the wall. 

A further search recovered cash in an upstairs bedroom dresser drawer. The cash, which was found inside heat sealed bags, was seized and, as of Friday morning, was still being counted at a bank. The total amount of cash is estimated at approximately $250,000. 

Heat sealing equipment, used to process money and drugs, was also seized.

All three men were brought up on multiple charges for Sale, Possession within Distance of a School; Illegal manufacture, distribution, sale, prescription or administration by non-drug dependent person; Drug Paraphernalia, Possession Paraphernalia 1,500 ft from School; Possession of Narcotics; and Illegal Possession near a School.   

All three suspects are each being held on $500,000 cash bond and share a court date of Jan. 31, 2014.

According to Norwalk Police, Cardenas was previously convicted in California for high level narcotics sales, served five years in federal prison and was subsequently deported to Mexico before re-entering the US illegally and taking up residence in Norwalk. The residency status of the two other men is still under investigation. 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.