Waterbury police: Apartment filled with drugs, illegal guns discovered during welfare check

Waterbury police allegedly found more than 4,000 bags of drugs and multiple illegally owned weapons during a welfare check on a building following complaints of a water leak.

Patrol officers went to 45 Silver Street on Monday to check on a water leak and found an apartment on the third floor filled with narcotics, the Waterbury Police Department said.

Police went back with a search and seizure warrant and allegedly found more than 4,000 bags of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine, four kilograms of cocaine and fentanyl, various drug paraphernalia, more than $20,000 in cash, a loaded Taurus 45 caliber revolver and a 9mm Glock with a 30-round extended magazine containing four live rounds of ammunition, according to police.

The apartment was rented by a 41-year-old Jose Ozuna-Cruz, a convicted felon who, because of prior felonies, is prevented from possessing firearms and therefore did not have a pistol permit, police said.

Ozuna-Cruz has a prior felony conviction out of California for illegal possession of a firearm in San Diego, police said.

He was charged in Waterbury with operating a drug factory, possession of half an ounce or more of cocaine, possession of one ounce or more of heroin, failure to declare a high capacity magazine, illegal sales or transfer of a firearm, criminal possession of a firearm, ammunition or a defense weapon, criminal possession of a pistol or a revolver and interfering with an officer, police said.

He was held on a $500,000 bond and was scheduled to be arraigned in court in Waterbury on Dec. 12, according to police and court records.