Convicted Felon Had Loaded Gun, Drugs, Thousands In Cash: Enfield PD

ENFIELD, CT ? A complaint of loud music and a "dance party" in the street yielded a loaded handgun, a considerable amount of suspected heroin/fentanyl and nearly $2,500 in cash in the early morning hours Sunday, leading to the arrest of a convicted felon.

Raul Cardona, 28, of Springfield, Mass., was charged with carrying a pistol without a permit, criminal possession of a firearm, possession of narcotics with intent to sell and improper storage of a pistol in a motor vehicle. Bond was set at $100,000.

According to a police report, officers were called to the area of Enfield and D'Annunzio avenues, behind Enfield Auto Sales, at 3:12 a.m. Four people were seen dancing to loud music coming from a black Chevrolet Impala, and when police questioned the group, Cardona appeared "overly nervous."

When told they were free to go, the group quickly walked away, but "distancing themselves" from the Impala. An officer scanned the car's interior with his flashlight and saw a handgun on the front passenger seat. The doors were locked, according to the report.

Cardona admitted to police he had recently served time for assault with attempt to murder with a firearm. Another person in the group told police Cardona had a gun in his waistband, which he removed and placed in the car when police arrived, according to the report.

The gun was a .45 caliber Smith & Wesson M & P Shield 2.0, with four rounds in the magazine and another in the chamber. A quick review of an officer's body-worn camera footage showed Cardona entering the passenger seat, removing an object from his waistband and placing it on the seat, according to the report.

Cardona was placed under arrest, and a search of his person yielded $2,495 in cash in his pants pocket, as well as three bundles of suspected heroin/fentanyl packaged in wax sleeves, stamped with a blue panda bear. On the ground near the car were two more packages, each containing about 100 wax folds of suspected heroin/fentanyl. A total of 230 packages were found, according to the report.