Anaiza Rivera, 28, was taken into custody by PSP Stroudsburg and booked into Monroe County Correctional Facility. She faces felony charges for dealing narcotics from a Milford Road apartment and has two other open criminal cases in Monroe County.
EAST STROUDSBURG, MONROE COUNTY — A 28-year-old East Stroudsburg woman accused of selling narcotics laced with fentanyl, heroin, xylazine, and bromazolam out of an apartment on Milford Road is now in custody after spending more than two months as a fugitive on an outstanding arrest warrant.
Anaiza Rivera was arrested by Pennsylvania State Police at Stroudsburg on Wednesday, April 22, at approximately 8:06 p.m. She was transported to the Monroe County Correctional Facility, where she remains.
The arrest closes out a warrant issued February 10 by Magisterial District Judge Jamie Levy. Rivera had been wanted since that date.
The Investigation
Stroud Area Regional Police began receiving tips about narcotics sales from an apartment on Milford Road in East Stroudsburg in September 2025. Detectives opened an investigation and identified Rivera as the suspected dealer.
Substances obtained during the probe were sent to the Pennsylvania State Police Crime Lab for analysis. The results came back positive for four controlled substances: fentanyl, heroin, xylazine, and bromazolam.
That combination is worth paying attention to. Xylazine is a veterinary tranquilizer — known on the street as “tranq” — that has been showing up with alarming frequency in the illicit fentanyl supply across the country and in northeastern Pennsylvania. It’s not an opioid, and naloxone won’t reverse its effects, which makes overdose situations much harder for first responders to manage. Bromazolam is a non-medical benzodiazepine that has never been approved for human use. Mixing sedatives like xylazine and bromazolam with opioids like fentanyl and heroin compounds the risk of fatal respiratory depression — users stop breathing, and standard overdose reversal tools may not bring them back.
The arresting officer on the case is Christopher B. Shelly of Stroud Area Regional Police.
The Charges
Rivera faces four criminal counts in docket MJ-43401-CR-0000035-2026, all stemming from an October 8, 2025, offense date in Smithfield Township:
- Manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to deliver (35 § 780-113 §§ A30) — Felony
- Criminal use of communication facility (18 § 7512 §§ A) — Felony, third degree
- Intentional possession of a controlled substance by person not registered (35 § 780-113 §§ A16) — Misdemeanor
- Use/possession of drug paraphernalia (35 § 780-113 §§ A32) — Misdemeanor
The criminal use of communication facility charge indicates investigators believe Rivera used a phone or other electronic device to coordinate drug sales.
Rivera has requested a public defender. The case is awaiting a preliminary hearing before Judge Levy.
Two Other Open Cases in Monroe County
The drug dealing charges are not Rivera’s only legal trouble.
Court records show she was charged on November 24, 2025, in a separate case (docket MJ-43401-CR-0000271-2025) stemming from a September 11, 2025, incident in Middle Smithfield Township. That case carries 11 charges:
- DUI — driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance (75 § 3802 §§ D1i*) — Misdemeanor
- Intentional possession of a controlled substance (35 § 780-113 §§ A16) — Misdemeanor
- Marijuana, small amount for personal use (35 § 780-113 §§ A31I) — Misdemeanor
- Seven counts of use/possession of drug paraphernalia (35 § 780-113 §§ A32) — Misdemeanor
- Driving without a license (75 § 1501 §§ A) — Summary
A preliminary hearing was held January 21, 2026, before Judge Levy. The case remains inactive.
The September 11 DUI occurred roughly a month before the October 8 offense date in the drug dealing case — meaning Rivera was allegedly selling fentanyl and heroin on Milford Road while already facing charges for driving under the influence of a controlled substance in neighboring Middle Smithfield Township.
Rivera also entered a guilty plea on November 19, 2025, to a single count of drug paraphernalia possession in a third case (docket MJ-43401-CR-0000222-2025). Bail in that case was set at $5,000.
Earlier History
Rivera’s court record extends back to 2023. Two non-traffic citations filed August 14, 2023, by Stroud Area Regional Police Officer Seth T. Gable charge her with harassment — subjecting another person to physical contact (18 § 2709 §§ A1) and disorderly conduct — engaging in fighting (18 § 5503 §§ A1). Both cases originated in East Stroudsburg Borough and were assigned to Magisterial District Judge Michael A. Wolbert.
Neither case has reached a disposition. Multiple summonses were issued and returned as undeliverable. Rivera’s address at the time was listed as Bethlehem, PA — she has since relocated to East Stroudsburg.
Case Reference
Drug Dealing Case (Current Arrest) Docket: MJ-43401-CR-0000035-2026 OTN: A 1008692-6 Incident No.: 2025-023962 Complaint No.: PA0450800-C000027974 Filed: February 10, 2026 Offense date: October 8, 2025 Township: Smithfield Township, Monroe County Arresting agency: Stroud Area Regional Police Department Arresting officer: Christopher B. Shelly Judge: Jamie Levy (MDJ 43-4-01) Prosecution: Monroe County District Attorney’s Office
DUI / Drug Possession Case Docket: MJ-43401-CR-0000271-2025 OTN: H 1014685-0 Filed: November 24, 2025 Offense date: September 11, 2025 Township: Middle Smithfield Township, Monroe County Judge: Jamie Levy (MDJ 43-4-01)
Prior Guilty Plea — Drug Paraphernalia Docket: MJ-43401-CR-0000222-2025 OTN: H 1014759-4 Disposition: Guilty plea, November 19, 2025 Bail: $5,000 monetary
2023 Non-Traffic Citations Dockets: MJ-43202-NT-0000506-2023 / MJ-43202-NT-0000507-2023 Incident No.: 2023019523 Offense date: August 2, 2023 Township: East Stroudsburg Borough Arresting officer: Seth T. Gable Judge: Michael A. Wolbert (MDJ 43-2-02)
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.