HAVERHILL – On Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, Haverhill Police Detective Bryan Bailey was assigned to the department’s Criminal Investigations Division in an unmarked cruiser and plain clothes sitting stationary at the Westgate Plaza near the Burlington Coat Factory monitoring the plaza for criminal activity.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Detective Bryan Bailey and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
Detective Sergeant Thomas Howell and Detectives Douglas Angus, Zachary Bouchard, and Kaylee Sarfde were also on patrol with the Haverhill Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division at this time.
At approximately 6:36 p.m., Detective Bailey said he saw a red GMC Terrain with Maine license plates pull into the plaza and park one row away from the guardrail furthest from the store.
“The GMC was occupied by two white males, who did not appear to be utilizing the services of the store or plaza as they did not exit the vehicle,” Detective Bailey said.
Detective Bailey said the area in and around Westgate Plaza has a history of frequent narcotics violations. He noted that the numerous businesses provide cover for illicit activity and that the area offers easy access to Interstate 495 and Route 110.
“Historically the Haverhill Police have been inundated with drug customers who travel from the Maine and New Hampshire area to meet up with drug dealers from the Lawrence and Haverhill area due to the lower drug prices and less adulterated drug product availability,” Detective Bailey said. “I have personally made and or been involved with numerous arrests stemming from meetups in the Westgate Plaza area.”
Detective Bailey said that, at approximately 6:39 p.m., he observed the driver and passenger of the GMC Terrain both look to their left. A black Acura with Massachusetts license plates then slowly travelled past the rear of the GMC as the passenger of the GMC, later identified as Marcello Terino, exited the vehicle and walked toward the Acura, out of the detective’s view.
According to police, Marcello Terino, 36, is a resident of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
At approximately 6:41 p.m., Haverhill Police Officer Mark Andrukaitis entered the parking lot and parked near the GMC.
“I observed the operator of the GMC appear to be consistently monitoring the marked cruiser and at one point appeared to by manipulating his phone,” Detective Bailey said. “Officer Andrukaitis pulled out of the lot approximately one minute later, and I observed the operator of the GMC to continue to monitor the cruiser. Approximately five minutes later, Mr. Terino hastily returned to the GMC empty handed, without any bags or merchandise.”
Detective Bailey said that as soon as Terino entered the GMC, the vehicle headed toward the exit of the plaza, followed by the Acura.
“Both vehicles left the plaza in tandem and entered the on-ramp to 495 northbound, the route the GMC would most likely take to head back to Maine,” Detective Bailey said. “Detectives maintained surveillance from a distance as it is known to be a common practice for drug dealers to follow their customers out of the area while conducting countersurveillance in an effort to detect law enforcement surveillance. The Acura and GMC remained in the far-right lane of the highway and the Acura eventually exited the highway onto Route 125 northbound (Main Street).”
Detective Bailey said the GMC, which was traveling below the posted speed limit, slowly pulled into the rest area on I-495 in Haverhill.
“I passed by the GMC as it was pulling into the rest area and could observe the interior of the GMC on the passenger side to be illuminated by light and the passenger was in a hunched forward position,” Detective Bailey said.
Detective Bailey said that, based on his training and experience, people who use narcotics, particularly opiates, often experience withdrawal symptoms and use the drugs shortly after obtaining them from a supplier. He said detectives had reasonable suspicion to believe Terino had just purchased narcotics and was about to ingest or inject them.
“Detectives conducted a motor vehicle stop on the GMC in the rest area to further investigate the suspicious behavior of Mr. Terino and to also potentially prevent him from ingesting or injecting narcotics,” Detective Bailey said. “Sergeant Howell approached the driver’s side, while Detective Bouchard and I approached on the passenger side.”
Detective Bailey said he illuminated the vehicle’s interior with his flashlight and saw a green crossbody bag, a metal Altoids-type tin, a hypodermic needle filled with brownish fluid, a plastic twist commonly associated with drug packaging, and pieces of white cotton-like material commonly used to strain narcotics before injection on the passenger-side floorboard.
“Mr. Terino was asked to step out of the vehicle at which time he became argumentative,” Detective Bailey said. “I opened the passenger door and gave Mr. Terino an exit order, which he still refused.”
Detective Bailey said he unbuckled Terino’s seatbelt, grabbed ahold of his arm and escorted him out of the vehicle.
Terino was then escorted to the rear of the GMC near Sergeant Howell’s vehicle, where Detective Bouchard and Sergeant Howell placed him in handcuffs. After he was handcuffed, Detective Bouchard remained with Terino.
Detective Bailey said he was searching the passenger side of the vehicle for additional contraband while Sergeant Howell was dealing with the driver. During the motor vehicle inventory, Detective Bailey said his attention was drawn to a commotion involving Detective Bouchard and Terino.
“While Detective Bouchard was checking Mr. Terino’s person for weapons or contraband, Mr. Terino was abnormally fidgety and shifting the position of his legs around,” Detective Bailey said.
Detective Bailey said Terino then began to make a stomping-type motion with his right leg, and Detective Bouchard observed as Terino attempted to stomp on two plastic bags on the ground near his right foot.
“Mr. Terino was able to destroy one of the plastic bags, which contained a white powdery substance believed to be cocaine, before Detective Bouchard was able to move Mr. Terino away from the narcotics,” Detective Bailey said.
Detective Bailey said the second plastic bag, which contained a brown powdery substance believed to be fentanyl, was unaffected by Terino’s attempt to destroy the evidence.
“It should be noted, Mr. Terino had a thick rubber band tied around the upper portion of his right arm that I removed from his arm,” Detective Bailey said. “It appears that Mr. Terino was interrupted before he was able to inject any narcotics.”
At around this time, Sergeant Michael Mills and K9 Officer Justin Graham arrived on scene to assist.
“Mr. Terino was placed under arrest and the handcuffs were double locked,” Detective Bailey said.
Officer Samuel Powell then transported Terino to the Haverhill Police Department for booking, while Detective Bailey remained at the scene.
“I collected the two bags of suspected narcotics to the best of my ability in evidence bags and secured them in my cruiser,” Detective Bailey said. “[The driver] was checked for contraband and was allowed to leave the area after ensuring his license status was valid and clear of any warrants.”
In addition to the warrant out of New Hampshire, Marcello Terino, 36, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, was charged with the following:
- Possess Class A Drug
- Possess Class B Drug
“At the station, Mr. Terino was advised of his rights and charges by the officer in charge, Lieutenant [James] Keenan,” Detective Bailey said. “Mr. Terino had an outstanding warrant out of New Hampshire, Rockingham County Superior Court.”
Detective Bailey said the two plastic bags of suspected narcotics were packaged as evidence and placed in temporary detective evidence lockers for possible submission to the Massachusetts State Police laboratory at a later date.
Terino was arraigned in Haverhill District Court on Oct. 1, 2026. Following his arraignment, Terino was released on $2,000 cash bail. Terino’s next court date is a pretrial hearing scheduled for Oct. 29, 2026.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story took place in September, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to obtain the court documents. FOIAs are time-consuming.
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