Gallup police arrest a man on suspicion of drug possession outside a closed bank

Gallup police arrested a man on suspicion of drug possession during a patrol near the Bank of America located at 1006 West Aztec Avenue, the department said.

The Gallup Police Department said Officer Gemme was on a routine patrol of the area at about 6:55 a.m. on Sept. 1. Police said the location has been the subject of numerous citizen complaints about nuisance activity and suspected drug use in the surrounding lots.

Officers saw four people in the area, according to the department, and one man, later identified as Roland Long, was seated on the west side of the closed business. Police said Long stood up and began walking away when he noticed the police unit.

Officer Gemme made contact with Long and saw that he was holding a piece of burnt aluminum foil, which the department said is commonly used in the consumption of illicit narcotics. Long provided the foil when asked, police said, and a burnt blue pill, circular in shape and marked with “30,” was visible on it. The officer suspected the pill was fentanyl.

Long was arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance and booked into the McKinley County Adult Detention Center without further incident, the department said.