2 people arrested, weapon and drugs seized, during an investigation at Back Central

LOWELL — An investigation into a city area that police say is “riddled with drug activity” has led to the arrest of two people accused of dealing crack cocaine while armed with a firearm.

A Lowell police report says Jonathan Aquino, 35, and Katherine Clark, 29, both face multiple charges after being found by police in possession of a loaded .380 caliber handgun, of crack, fentanyl and a variety of pills.

The arrests occurred earlier this month as detectives from the Lowell Police Department's Special Investigations Section and members of the Middlesex Sheriff's Office monitored the Back Central neighborhood. Police described the neighborhood as “a high-crime area, rife with drug activity, where numerous assaults, fights and overdoses have occurred.”

In May, detectives received information from a confidential informant that a man, known as “John John,” was distributing cocaine in the South Common neighborhood, which police say is “a high place of alcohol and drug abuse.

On June 5, the confidential informant revealed that John John was in the South Common area in possession of drugs and a firearm. Police were also informed that John John, later identified as Aquino, was with a woman, who detectives later learned was Clark.

The two men were located by police in the 100 block of Gorham Street, where Aquino was standing outside a restaurant, while Clark was inside the restaurant. On a table inside the restaurant near Clark was a shoulder bag that the informant told police would be in the possession of both men.

Police said a search of the bag revealed the presence of a Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 380 firearm. The gun, which had its serial number obliterated, was loaded with a magazine containing six rounds.

Also inside the shoulder bag were a digital scale, “a large wad of cash,” empty sandwich bags and a bag containing crack cocaine. Needles, a pill bottle and a bag containing fentanyl were also found in another pocket of the bag.

Police said Clark handed over a grocery bag that police said contained two more bags of cocaine and another stack of cash.

The report states that Clark told police that “it all belongs to John John.” She also denied any knowledge of the firearm. Police said Aquino, meanwhile, also denied that the items belonged to him.

The three bags of crack weighed 52 grams, while the amount of fentanyl totaled about 1 gram, according to police. Police also alleged they found in the pill bottle “eight orange pills labeled 'V,' two unknown round orange pills, one oxycodone hydrochloride pill labeled 'K18,' three alprazolam pills and one linezolid pill.”

Police said the money found in the two bags totaled $573.

According to police, investigators reviewed surveillance footage from cameras inside the restaurant, which captured Aquino entering the establishment while carrying the shoulder bag. He was also shown in the footage carrying the grocery bag.

Police alleged the footage also showed Aquino conducting what appeared to be three separate drug transactions inside the restaurant.

Clark, who is listed in court documents as homeless, and Aquino, of Billerica, are both charged with trafficking 36 grams or more of cocaine, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony , carrying a firearm without a license, carrying a loaded firearm. firearm without a license, defacement of the serial number of a firearm, conspiracy to violate drug laws and possession of a class A drug.

They were arraigned on these charges in Lowell District Court on June 6, where Clark was held on $2,500 cash bail, while Aquino's bail was set at $10,000 cash .

Clark and Aquino are expected to return to court for a pretrial conference on July 2.

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