New Bedford Man Arrested After Receiving Over Kilo of Cocaine in the Mail

Members of the New Bedford Police narcotics unit arrested a 45-year-old New Bedford man with a long criminal history Saturday afternoon, after he received more than a kilo of cocaine in the mail.

Ivan Fontanez is charged with trafficking in cocaine over 1,000 grams, distribution of a Class B substance (cocaine), subsequent offense and carrying weapons or instruments on a person, after over a kilo of cocaine valued at $100,000 was found in a package he received in the mail. The arrest was the result of an ongoing investigation into the shipment of narcotics through the U.S. Mail from Puerto Rico.

According to police, Fontanez received the package at a Weld Street address, and was arrested after leaving the address. He also was carrying an illegal knife in his pocket. Police say the package contained cocaine weighing 1,036 grams. Fontanez also had a small amount of cash on him as well.

Fontanez has a long criminal history. He was previously convicted of distribution/dispensing a Class A substance (heroin) in 1994, and sentenced to serve two years in prison. He was also sentenced to serve 24 months in federal prison in 1999 for possession of a firearm. In 2011, he was sentenced in Superior Court to serve four years and one day for possession of a firearm. He has 78 arraignments as an adult, including numerous distributions of illegal narcotics, several possessions of a firearm without a permit, and discharging of a firearm. Police say he was also injured in a December 2016 shooting on Nye Street.

Fontanez is being held pending his arraignment Tuesday at Third District Court.