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The arrests occurred in Norwalk on Wednesday, Aug. 7, at Cocchia’s Liquor Store at 23 Ely Ave.
According to Sgt. Ryan Evarts of the Norwalk Police Department, the department received information that a man named "Felix" was selling large quantities of cocaine from the store.
An investigation involving controlled purchases of cocaine was conducted, and “Felix” was identified as Felix Galindo-Castillo, aka Cocchie, age 48, of Norwalk, Evarts said.
Evarts said Galindo-Castillo had an active federal arrest warrant, and it was learned that he was also the founder of the violent Los Vagos Gang based in Mexico.
Evarts said the federal New York arrest warrant was for illegal re-entry into the US. The bond on the warrant was set at $1 million.
The search warrants were for both Cocchia’s Liquor Store and the person of Galindo-Castillo.
Evarts said while searching Cocchia’s, officers discovered seven full-size illegal gambling machines. These machines were positioned in two different locations of the store.
The gambling machines paid out cash collected at the front counter by providing a receipt ticket from the gambling device and are illegal, he added.
In addition, several bags of cocaine were located in the walk-in beer cooler and on Galindo-Castillo and another individual, Jose Gerado Fuentes-Lima, age 44, of Norwalk.
Two facsimile handguns were located on a shelf under the cash register, and $4,932 in cash was seized from the gambling machines and found wrapped in rubber bands with gambling receipts and hidden in various liquor boxes in the store, Evarts said.
Evarts said the proceeds of illegal gambling and cocaine sales will be applied for through state asset forfeiture. The inner control servers for each gambling machine were also seized during the search.
"This investigation is ongoing, and this is the second time in a year that arrests were made at this location for narcotics and gambling violations," Evarts said.
Norwalk Fire Department Fire Marshalls Division and the CT State Consumer Protection Division (Liquor Control) assisted in this investigation.
Gerado Fuentes-Lima was charged with:
- Possession of a controlled substance
- Conspiracy to commit/possession of a controlled substance
- Illegal gambling
- Sale of a controlled substance
- Conspiracy to commit/sale of a narcotic substance
He was held on a $55,000 bond.
Galindo-Castillo was charged with:
- Sale of narcotics
- Conspiracy to commit /sale of narcotics
- Possession of narcotics,
- Conspiracy to commit/possession of narcotics
- Fugitive from Justice for federal New York arrest warrant charging illegal re-entry into the US
He was also held on a $55,000 bond and a $1 million bond for a fugitive from justice charge.
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