Traffic stop leads to drug charges
By Allan Stein, Enterprise correspondent

ABINGTON — A Dorchester man was charged Sunday afternoon with trafficking in the "club drug" Ketamine after a traffic stop on Walnut Street near Abington Center School, police said.
Scott Sandonato, 33, of 40 King St., Apt. 1, Dorchester, was arraigned Monday in Brockton District Court on charges that include trafficking in a Class A drug, Ketamine; possession of a Class A drug, Ketamine, with intent to distribute; and violating drug laws near a school or park. He was also charged with operating with a suspended driver's license and a number plate violation for using a plastic cover.

Ketamine, a nonbarbiturate anesthetic used on both animals and humans, is sometimes called a "date rape" drug. It's used illegally for its narcotic and hallucinatory effects, typically at raves and parties, where it's known as "Special K" or "K." It also has been used in human medicine for pediatric burn cases and dentistry, and in experimental psychotherapy.

Police said that about 1 p.m. Sunday Detective Sgt. Scott Saccoach pulled Sandonato's vehicle over on Walnut Street near Summer Street for a motor vehicle investigation. Police said Sandonato began to act suspiciously and then Saccoach noticed there were 23 glass vials containing a clear liquid in a bag on the front console of the car.

Police said Sandonato also had emptied one of the vials into a coffee cup and they found six more vials in his sock before he was arrested. Police Chief David G. Majenski said the vials were unlabeled, but Saccoach had been trained to recognize the prescription drug Ketamine.

Abington and Boston police in a subsequent search of Sandonato's residence discovered 10 additional vials of marked and packaged Ketamine. The combined street value of the 40 vials in evidence is $4,000, or $100 each, Majenski said. Police also seized $261 in cash from Sandonato.

In small doses, Ketamine produces a mild euphoria, but in large doses it is a powerful hallucinogen, Majenski said. Police do not know where Sandonato obtained the vials of Ketamine, but "he was certainly in Abington on a mission. We're still looking into that," he said.
Majenski said this was the first arrest in Abington involving a large quantity of Ketamine.
"It should certainly let people know that in Abington we're not immune. It certainly should serve as a wake-up call to be aware that these drugs are out there," Majenski said.