Police arrest 3, seize more than 170 heroin balloons

A search warrant being served by Bloomington Police Department detectives Thursday afternoon led to the arrest of three men and the seizure of more than 170 balloons of heroin.  

William E. Sabbagh, age 36, faces a preliminary charge of possession of heroin with intent to deal, a class A felony.  

Sabbagh was the target of an ongoing drug investigation by BPD Detective Jarred Burns. At about 1 p.m. Thursday afternoon officers went to Sabbagh’s home in the 3200 block of E. Longview to serve a search warrant. When police were about to enter the home, 36-year-old Jason Straw exited the home. He was arrested on a preliminary charge of visiting a common nuisance. Police found Straw had four balloons of heroin in his pockets.  

As officers walked in to the home they saw 31-year-old Joshua Wall. Wall dropped eight balloons of heroin he had in his hand when he saw police, BPD Lt. David Drake said, reading from a police report. Wall was arrested and faces preliminary charges of possession of a controlled substance and visiting a common nuisance.  

Police then found Sabbagh sitting on a bed with a pillbox containing 20 balloons of heroin. Each balloon has about one to three doses and costs about $50, Drake said. Police also found about 50 more balloons of heroin in the home. They also seized a lock box that contained Ziploc bags, a white powder substance believed to be methamphetamine weighing more than three grams, 39 blue tablets believed to be Lortab, a crack pipe, a small amount of marijuana, 17 ecstasy pills, 26 hypodermic needles and $1,300 in cash. Police said Sabbagh also had a binder containing names  of people he had been selling to and how much they owed him.  

During this time, 20-year-old Edwin Reyna-Lopez, of Indianapolis, arrived at the residence to make a heroin delivery. When Reyna-Lopez arrived and police approached him, he swallowed about 15 balloons of heroin that he had been carrying. Police were able to recover 90 other heroin balloons in Reyna-Lopez’s possession. Reyna-Lopez was arrested and immediately taken to Bloomington Hospital to receive treatment for heroin overdose. When he is released from the hospital, he will face a preliminary charge of possession of heroin with intent to deal, a class A felony.