| HAVERHILL: Woman who left $1 million in cocaine in rented minivan will ...
LAWRENCE — A Haverhill mother of four will spend the next 15 years in prison, convicted of trafficking more than $1 million worth of cocaine found in a rented minivan. Lawrence Superior Court Judge Leila Kern said it was a tough sentence to impose on Nicole Paquette, 31. Until her 2006 arrest for trafficking cocaine, Paquette only had a car accident on her record. "It's not an understatement to say I spent a sleepless night. I did," Kern said during yesterday's sentencing. Paquette's 2006 arrest led to what police Chief John Romero described then as the largest cocaine bust ever seen in the area. Between the 21 kilos found in Paquette's rental car and another 30 kilos seized from a Methuen home linked to the crime, the drugs had a street value of $2.5 million, Romero said at the time.
Police have U-Haul records, but have 'moved on'
Palo Alto police knew about the link to a U-Haul rental van and obtained rental records for the van, rented from the Amigo Market in East Palo Alto last summer, police Chief Lynne Johnson said Monday. Thus they had no need to question the market's owner or U-Haul officials, she said. The Weekly reported March 7 that a young couple driving a U-Haul van was arrested in late June for using traveler's checks stolen from the Children's Theatre in mid-June. In August, a man who rented a U-Haul van, also from the now-closed Amigo Market, reported discovering traveler's checks in the back. The market's owner, Ghalib Younef, and a corporate U-Haul spokeswoman Joanne Fried told the Weekly they had not talked to police. Johnson, the sole spokesperson for the case, was out of town last week and could not be reached.
Hurricane-plagued business expands with portable building
The Santa Rosa County Commission recently gave the go-ahead for the owners of Juana's Pagoda and Sailor's Grille to expand their operation, adding a portable building for a souvenir/art shop."It's more space to market the merchandise we're already marketing," said owner Ken Rudzki. "Right now, it's scattered hither and yon. The idea was to consolidate and expand."The new facility will add 300 square feet of retail space to the eatery/bar.The portable building is a way to combat hurricanes, he said."If we're in harm's way with Mother Nature, all of these goodies have to be evacuated with us," Rudzki said. "We spend days packing this stuff up. With this portable building, we'll pick it up, put it on a flatbed truck and take it with us."The complex, which started as a boat rental service 18 years ago, sustained damage from Hurricanes Opal, Ivan and Dennis.Rudzki said the new building will be camouflaged to fit in with the island look of what's already there."We wouldn't want anything that didn't seem like it was part of the establishment," he said.
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