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A raid by the Washington County Drug Task Force in North Granville yielded two felony arrests in the past week for possession of heroin, police said Monday.
Washington County sheriff’s Deputy Scott Stark, head of the county’s drug task force, said he made two arrests resulting from a raid executed at a Route 22 residence in North Granville.
A man suspected by police as a long-time area heroin dealer, 21-year-old Vincent Garulli, was arrested Feb. 22 following the raid. Stark said Garulli is believed to have been a major heroin distributor in the Granville area for some time.
Garulli remains in the Washington County Jail for lack of $50,000 cash or $100,000 bail bond facing a single count of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, police said.
Arrested in the days following the raid, 18-year-old Allison Cosey, faces the same charge possession of a controlled substance. Cosey was released from the Washington County Jail after posting either $10,000 cash or $20,000 bail bond.
Police arrested Garulli following a search of his residence in which 36 small baggies of heroin, $500 in cash and drug paraphernalia were found.
Stark led the investigation and raid based on intelligence developed by the Granville Village Police.
“He was pushing a lot of heroin in the Granville area,” Stark said.
Garulli purchased bags of heroin for $1 in New Jersey and charged people $20 to $25 each locally, Stark said. “He made frequent trips to New Jersey to re-supply,” Stark said.
The move is a common one for area dealers because the drug is inexpensive in the Garden State. “Everybody goes to Jersey for heroin,” Stark said.
Granville Police Chief Ernie Bassett Jr. and Sgt. David Williams said they could not comment on the intelligence they provided to the task force or how it was developed, as it could have impact on other cases.
They did say the information was developed over the course of several arrests before being forwarded to the task force.
“We’ve been well aware of (Garulli) for a while now,” Williams said.
Granville Police said they had not made a drug arrest of Garulli, but said he had been arrested previously in the village on a felony charge.
Garulli was convicted of a felony for possessing a stolen lap top computer and arrested again for violating parole on that conviction, police said.
The arrests were made following a lengthy investigation by the task force; additional charges may be pending, police said.
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