Twice Arrested in 17 Days, Cape Cod Woman Held After Detectives...

SOUTH YARMOUTH, MASSACHUSETTS – A Dennis woman released on personal recognizance after a mid-August drug raid is now being held on a dangerousness finding following a second search that turned up hundreds of grams of fentanyl and cocaine in a South Yarmouth home.

Yarmouth Police detectives, working with the DEA, Massachusetts State Police and Dennis police, executed a knock-and-announce search warrant Friday afternoon, Aug. 28, at a Seaview Avenue residence. Before the warrant was served, detectives watched Tara Cooke, 42, of Dennis, conduct a suspected drug transaction, according to police.

Inside the home they found illegal narcotics throughout the residence. K-9 Gauge, a narcotics detection dog, alerted to a large quantity of crack cocaine and fentanyl concealed in a large wicker basket. Officers also recovered packaging and distribution equipment, including a vacuum sealer, vacuum bags, sandwich bags and a digital scale.

Police said they seized approximately 256 grams of fentanyl, 179 grams of cocaine, 32 grams of crack cocaine and five counterfeit Adderall pills made from methamphetamine, along with $2,767 in cash. Cooke told detectives the money was intended to bail her boyfriend out of jail.

Cooke was charged with trafficking 200 grams or more of fentanyl, trafficking 200 grams or more of cocaine, and conspiracy to violate drug laws. Renee Fontaine, 55, of Yarmouth, faces the same trafficking counts plus possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and conspiracy. Jose Perez, 37, of Lawrence, was charged with conspiracy.

All three were arraigned Monday in Barnstable District Court. Cooke was held on dangerousness, Fontaine on $2,500 bail, and Perez was released.

The Aug. 28 raid came just 17 days after Cooke’s first arrest. On Aug. 11, Yarmouth and Dennis detectives executed a search warrant at a Mayfair Road home in Dennis and found about 14.5 grams of crack cocaine, a quantity of fentanyl, a small amount of alprazolam and $147. Cooke was charged then with possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, possession of fentanyl, possession of alprazolam and conspiracy. She was released on personal recognizance. Her significant other, Jasen Adkins, 44, of Sandwich, was held without bail on outstanding warrants plus subsequent-offense and conspiracy charges.

Yarmouth police said the department “remains committed to proactively addressing drug related activity and protecting the safety of the community.”

HN Reminder: The details contained in the above report are based upon information from police sources. Defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

From an earlier YPD press release: