North Reading Drug Suspect Held on $15,000 Cash Bail.

NORTH READING — A 21-year-old Lawrence man was ordered held on $15,000 cash bail after North Reading police allege that Manuel Pina was found with a large bag of Fentanyl, a dangerous synthetic opiod responsible for a sharp increase in overdose deaths.

In Woburn District Court on Thursday, Pina was ordered held on high bail after pleading not guilty to:

• Trafficking in a Class A Substance (Fentanyl)
• Failure to Stop for Police
• Giving a False Name and Address to a Police Officers
• Failure to Stop for a Red Light
• Operating a Motor Vehicle with a Suspended License (Subsequent Offense)

Judge Dennis Curran also revoked Pina's bail on a pending case, holding him without bail, pending an April 24 hearing, according to the Middlesex District Attorney's Office.

North Reading Police say that at 4:03 p.m. on Wednesday an officer stopped a white Honda that was seeing running a red light at the intersection of of Main Street and Lowell Road. The driver, who was identified as Pina, fled on foot triggering a K9 and State Police Air Wing search for the suspect.

State Police captured Pena in Lawrence after North Reading police broadcast a description of the suspect.

North Reading Police recovered a large plastic bag containing 22 smaller plastic bags filled with a powdery substance. That substance was determined to be 14 grams of Fentanyl, according to police.

“Fentanyl is an extremely dangerous substance that has made the nationwide opioid epidemic even worse,” said North Reading Police Chief Michael Murphy.

“Thankfully, multiple police departments worked together to quickly locate an alleged drug trafficker and remove a quantity of drugs from circulation.”

The Wakefield Police Department assisted at the scene with its K-9 unit, and the Wilmington Police Department also assisted North Reading Police.

Courtesy photo of Manuel Pina provided by the North Reading Police Department.