West Roxbury Man Charged with Intent to Sell Marijuana

tailed a vehicle leaving a known area for drugdealing before arresting a West Roxbury man with trying to sell marijuana.

Petridis Konstantinos, of 303 Vermont St., West Roxbury, was arrested and charged with possession of a class D drug, marijuana, with the intent to distribute, around 7:29 p.m. on Aug. 20.

Members of the Boston Police Districts E-5/E-18 Drug Control Unit were undercover the area of Beech and Washington streets in Roslindale, a known spot for drug dealing. Police observed a suspect talking on a cellphone while driving a Honda SUV, and saw the driver make a right turn onto Haydn Street and pull over to the curb opposite 14 Haydn St., Roslindale, according to a Boston Police report.

Within seconds a suspect exited a "location suspected of drug dealing activity" and then hopped into the Honda SUV, which drove off. 

While tailing the suspect's vehicle, police allegedly saw the front seat passenger leaning towards the floor of the vehicle and then open the side window. The front seat passenger then held out a tan colored piece of paper, which was folded in half, and let the contents on the paper fly away. Based on their training and experience "drug users in the cannabis culture will utilize a folded piece of cardboard or paper to break up buds of marijuana and to roll marijuana cigarettes commonly known as 'joints'," according to a Boston Police report.

Officers stopped the vehicle at a red light traffic signal at Washington and Grove streets in West Roxbury. An officer detected a strong odor of fresh marijuana coming from the passenger compartment of the vehicle. 

The driver of the vehicle was asked if he had any drugs inside the vehicle, which he said he did, and then handed the officer a small plastic bag with what was believed to be marijuana. The suspect also said he had a "grinder" in the glove compartment, which was provided to the officer, too.

The passenger behind the driver's seat, Konstantinos, was observed shifting around in his seat, said a police report. The suspect was asked if he had any drugs on him, which he replied he had his pipe on him, then pulled out a multi-colored pipe from his backpack. An officer smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from the backpack before the suspect put it behind him again. An officer also heard some bottles clang in the backpack.

The suspect was asked again if he had any drugs on him, and the suspect allegedly reached into his waistband and removed a plastic bag with a leafy green substance believed to be marijuana, and provided it to police. The suspect was asked if he had anything else, and the suspect said he did not have any other drugs on him.

The backpack was retrieved and a search turned up a plastic bag holding a substance believed to be marijuana, along with an electronic scale, which had some leafy green substance on it. Police also recovered a ziplock bag with about 100 small plastic bags with the "4:20" logo on them, the same type of bags police believed are used to package "illicit drugs." There were also three empty beer bottles, and one unopened bottle in the backpack. 

One of the passengers will be summonsed to West Roxbury District Court for possession of a class C substance, after a search by police found four pills on the suspect.

The driver and another passenger will also be issued a civil citation for possession of marijuana. 

Police seized $440 from the arrested suspect's backpack, according to a police report.