TEWKSBURY — Police Chief Ryan M. Columbus reports that the Tewksbury Police Department collaborated with the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC) SWAT Team to safely serve a search warrant and arrest a man on firearms and drug charges on Monday.
GEORGE R. PANAGOPOULOS, AGE 39, OF TEWKSBURY was charged with:
- Firearm Violation with One Prior Violent/Drug Crime
- Possession of a Firearm Without FID Card, Subsequent Offense
- Improper Storage of a Firearm
- Possession of a Class B Drug, Subsequent Offense (Suboxone)
- Possession of a Class E Drug (Sustanon)
- Possession of a Class E Drug (Trenbolone Acetate)
- Possession of a Class E Drug (Testosterone Cypiuonate)
- Assault and Battery
Tewksbury Police began investigating alleged threats against an individual on Sunday, Dec. 12, and through that investigation determined that PANAGOPOULOS was allegedly in illegal possession of at least one firearm.
Police presented evidence to Lowell District Court and obtained a search warrant for PANAGOPOULOS’ home on Crescent Street in Tewksbury. Police requested assistance from the NEMLEC SWAT Team to serve the warrant due to the threat posed by the illegally possessed firearms.
On Monday morning, Dec. 13, Tewksbury Police and NEMLEC SWAT served the search warrant and located a 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun unsecured in a bedroom closet. PANAGOPOULOS does not have a license to possess firearms.
Elsewhere in the home police located several packages of suboxone and several vials of various types of steroids, which were also seized.
PANAGOPOULOS was taken into custody without incident and was held without bail pending arraignment in Lowell District Court on Monday.
At arraignment in Lowell District Court, bail for PANAGOPOULOS was set at $2,500 cash, with conditions that PANAGOPOULOS stay away from the victim, not contact the victim, and not assault the victim. PANAGOPOULOS is due back in Lowell District Court on Jan. 12.
The Tewksbury Police Department urges any citizens who suspect criminal activity to call the Dispatch Center at 978-851-7373. If you wish to remain anonymous, please call the Tip Line at 978-851-0175 or send an email to tewks_detectives@tewksbury-ma.gov.
These are allegations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty.