Three Arrested in North Adams Drug Raid

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Two city residents and a New York man were arrested on drug charges Monday night after a raid that garnered some 100 baggies full of cocaine.

Brenda Blasi, 46, and Thomas Massey Jr., 43, both of North Adams, and Tareem Jackson, 26, of East Sunnyside Street in Troy, N.Y., are being charged with trafficking in crack cocaine (more than 36 grams); possession of a Class B substance (crack cocaine) with the intent to distribute (third offense for Blasi and second offense for Jackson), and conspiracy to violate the Controlled Substances Act.

Massey was also arrested on three arrest warrants for failing to appear at Northern Berkshire District Court for narcotics offenses.

North Adams Police and members of the Berkshire County Drug Task Force, with the assistance of the Berkshire County Special Response Team, executed a search warrant at Blasi's home at 74 Liberty St. at about 9 p.m. on Monday.

Police said a man in the front yard of the home when officers arrived ran into the house and attempted to flush baggies down the toilet. Officers searched the house and, with the assistance of Department of Public Works personnel and the plumbing inspector, recovered more than 100 baggies of crack cocaine that were lodged in the house's drain.

The street value of the crack cocaine was estimated at more than $5,000.

All three were held on cash bail and arraigned in Northern Berkshire District Court on Tuesday morning.

Blasi had been previously indicted for drug trafficking in the breakup of a drug ring at Wheel Estates Mobile Home Park in 2008, uncovered after the slaying of Daniel J. Walters.