BOSTON, Nov. 16, 2017—A ride-share driver who allegedly sold heroin to an undercover State trooper this fall has been charged with drug trafficking after his arrest in Boston and the execution of a search warrant at his home in Lawrence, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley and Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said.

ARIEL PIMENTAL (D.O.B. 3/4/91) was arraigned yesterday in South Boston Municipal Court on three separate dockets, two charging distribution of a Class A substance and one charging trafficking in heroin. The charges stem from two $200 heroin purchases that troopers made from Pimental in September and the recovery of more than 20 grams of heroin during his Tuesday afternoon arrest in the Seaport District. A single dose of heroin weighs approximately 1/10 of one gram.

South Boston Municipal Court Judge Michael Bolden set a total of $60,000 cash bail and, at prosecutors’ request, ordered Pimental to wear a GPS device, surrender his passport, and remain under house arrest if he posts that amount.

The investigation began this summer, when the Suffolk County State Police Detective Unit received information that an Uber driver – later identified as Pimental – was distributing heroin in and around the Boston area. After making contact with Pimental by phone, undercover troopers made six controlled purchases from him through the fall.

On Nov. 14, following those sales, a Suffolk Superior Court judge approved search warrants for Pimental’s residence and the 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe with livery plates in which Pimental had allegedly conducted the transactions. At about 2:00 that afternoon, State Police stopped the Tahoe on Congress Street. They placed him under arrest for the earlier sales, searched the vehicle, and recovered three bags of heroin totaling approximately 22 grams.

State troopers and Lawrence Police separately executed the search warrant at Pimental’s Common Street home, recovering an additional 26 grams of heroin, for which he is expected to face charges in Essex County at a later date, and about $4000 in cash.

Pimental was represented in the South Boston case by attorney Todd Fronk for bail purposes and will return to court tomorrow for the appointment of permanent counsel. His arraignment in Lawrence District Court has not yet been scheduled.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.