LAWRENCE — If the jurors in the drug trafficking trial of Angel Ayala Roque remember anything about the trial, it will likely be the moment they held $90,000 worth of cocaine in their hands.
During the third day of testimony in the trial yesterday, the jurors were handed a clear plastic bag containing five, 2.2 pound bricks of cocaine, valued at $18,000 each.
Each juror looked over the bag before passing it on to the next juror.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Hickey used a series of witnesses and documents to show Roque's connection to the second-floor apartment at 50 Glen Ave., Methuen, and to a black BMW parked in front of the house.
State police Detective Frank Montanez testified he drove to the Glen Avenue address on Sept. 13, where he gave Roque, 46, his Miranda rights in Spanish.
Under questioning by Hickey, Montanez testified he then asked Roque if he was the person who had returned a minivan to the Thrifty Car Rental agency on South Union Street in Lawrence the previous day, and Roque indicated that he was.
Montanez said he then asked Roque if he lived at the 50 Glen Ave. address and Roque again said that he did.
When employees checked the minivan the day after it was returned, they found two boxes with 21 bricks of cocaine in storage compartments. The boxes were addressed to Leo's Pub, 567 Essex St. in Lawrence, where Roque was a manager.
When investigators arrested Roque and obtained search warrants for his apartment, they used keys taken from him during his arrest to unlock the door and to unlock a bedroom door inside the apartment, where they found another 30 bricks of cocaine, state police Detective Tim Leeman testified.
The street value of the cocaine found in the van and the apartment was estimated to be as high as $3 million.
A codefendant in the case, Nicole Paquette, 32, of Haverhill was sentenced to 15 years in prison in February after her conviction on charges of trafficking cocaine over 200 grams and conspiracy to violate drug laws.
The van had been rented with a credit card in her name.
Roque is charged with two counts of trafficking cocaine over 200 grams and conspiracy to violate drug laws.
Lawrence Superior Court Judge John Lu told jurors the trial would probably wrap up on Monday and they would begin their deliberations.
Outside the courtroom, Hickey said he had two witnesses left to call, both of them state troopers.
