A Honduran national was sentenced yesterday in Virginia to 10 years in prison for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.
According to court documents, early on the morning of June 20, 2023, officers with the Virginia Beach Police Department (VBPD) responded to a report of an unconscious individual in a car and found Delvin Antonio Cruz-Melgar, 25, asleep behind the wheel of a red Dodge that had been involved in a hit-and-run accident with another vehicle approximately 90 minutes earlier. After observing a meth pipe in plain view, VBPD initiated a probable cause search of the red Dodge and found a second meth pipe, a plastic bag containing 4.57 grams of meth and a black bag containing 225.44 grams of meth.
During a search of Cruz-Melgar’s person, officers discovered a loaded Walther PPX 9mm handgun in his waistband, as well as $760 in cash. Detectives with the VBPD Special Investigations Unit were called to the scene. The detectives found a stolen Akkar Churchill Model 612 12-gauge shotgun, a digital scale, multiple cellphones and ammunition in the vehicle.
The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities and measuring the results.
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Rebecca Barnabi
