The sheriff's undercover drug agents make arrests

CARMEL – An Orange County man and a Connecticut resident are facing drug charges in Putnam County after they were arrested by members of the sheriff's office's Narcotics Enforcement Unit.

Sheriff Kevin McConville said Monday that Christopher Weale, 37, of Newburgh, failed to appear in Southeast Town Court in mid-August on two open cases involving arrests. “The first case involved criminal possession of a controlled substance and the second case involved bail jumping.”

Judge Richard Vercollone issued separate arrest warrants, and when Weale was arrested last week in the town of Newburgh for an unrelated crime, he was held on the outstanding warrants.

Weale was turned over to sheriff's office staff and charged with two new counts of bail jumping before being arraigned again in Southeast and this time sent back to the Putnam County Correctional Facility on $10,000 bond pending a later appearance Court.

The Connecticut man was arrested after undercover officers observed a vehicle with a Virginia license plate that expired in 2016 driving through Brewster.

McConville said officers “observed a man sitting in the driver's seat who appeared to snort a white, powdery substance believed to be cocaine.” The vehicle was stopped and its driver, Ahmed Haider, 32, exited East Haven, arrested during a search of the subject and his vehicle yielding a quantity of cocaine and buprenorphine.”

Haider was arrested on two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance. He was charged and released without bail pending further court proceedings.