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WILKES-BARRE — A repeat drug dealer and known Hazleton gang member pleaded guilty Monday in Luzerne County Court to drug charges stemming from a June traffic stop in which police say he had over 1,000 bags of heroin in his possession, including several hidden in his rectum.
Oliver Rivera, 22, pleaded guilty in front of Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Vough to four felony counts of possession with intent to deliver. Rivera, of 262 Snow Valley Drive in Drums, also pleaded guilty to one felony count of fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer.
According to criminal complaints, Butler Township police on June 10 conducted a traffic stop on a car with three men inside. Rivera, the vehicle’s owner, was was a passenger in the car. Police said Rivera’s hands were shaking and he appeared to be “extremely nervous.”
A search of the vehicle found a black shopping bag in the trunk containing 1,002 packets of heroin.
During a strip search at the Butler Township Police Department, an additional 30 packets of heroin were found in Rivera’s underwear and another 10 were hidden inside his rectum. The labels on the packets matched those found in the trunk, the affidavit says.
On Jan. 31, 2014, Rivera and an accomplice led White Haven and multiple other police agencies on a high-speed chase along Interstate 80 in which the duo allegedly abandoned their vehicle and fled into the woods.
A separate drug bust conducted in Feb. 2014 by agents with the state Office of Attorney General Bureau of Narcotics Investigation and Gun Control found Rivera to be in possession of 200 packs of heroin, 18 grams of cocaine and 3.5 grams of crack cocaine.
A warrant was later obtained for Rivera’s stash house at 541 Locust St. in Hazleton where agents recovered 322 grams of cocaine, 8,000 bags of heroin and a scale.
Rivera is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 12.