Police: Danbury Woman Sold Illegal Cigarettes and Booze, Arrested for 5th Time

A local woman has been arrested after being accused of illegally selling cigarettes and alcohol out of her apartment. It's the fifth time she's been arrested on similar charges in the past two years.

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According to the Danbury Police Department, a number of search and seizure warrants led to the arrest of 65-year-old Vera Lucia Ribeiro-Menezes of Danbury on Friday (November 6).

Police say that the aforementioned warrants were issued as the result of an investigation that has been going on for some time, revolving around the city woman's Foster Street apartment. The DPD alleges that throughout the course of the investigation, Ribeiro-Menezes' "business" attracted a high volume of both foot and vehicle traffic to the area of her dwelling, which sits directly across the street from Head Start of Northern Fairfield County, an elderly housing complex. Police also noted that there are many multifamily homes within this particular Danbury neighborhood.

Friday's execution of the search and seizure warrants allegedly turned up several thousand dollars in cash, a large quantity of alcohol, unlicensed cigarettes, and a small amount of marijuana.

Back in 2018, Ribeiro-Menezes was arrested on similar charges as the result of an investigation that, at the time, police dubbed, "Operation 3-2-1." The name being derived because of the accusation that the 65-year-old Danbury woman was selling single servings of beer for $3.00, those little airplane bottles of alcohol (around here we call them "nips") for $2.00, and individual cigarettes (loosies) for $1.00.

During the 2018 arrest, officers forced entry into the apartment, where a search was conducted, and "Operation 3-2-1" reportedly turned up $12,000 in cash, 861 cans of beer, 2,251 nips, and 5,563 cigarettes.

This time around, while the DPD didn't go into such specific details as to their alleged findings inside of her apartment, Vera Lucia Ribeiro-Menezes was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell within 1500 feet of a school, sale of a controlled substance, criminal attempt to dispense alcohol without a permit, criminal attempt to sell unlicensed cigarettes, and a few various lesser drug charges.