The executive director of the New London Housing Authority said the agency has taken legal action against tenants of the Thames River Apartments who were associated with recent incidents involving drug dealing and guns.

The tenants have either been evicted or are in the process of being evicted, according to Sue Shontell.

"With drugs and guns, basically you're out," Shontell said. "There's an admissions and continuing occupancy policy, and in their lease, their obligations are stated. You have to be a good neighbor. If you endanger the safety of others, that's not being a good neighbor."

The housing authority manages the federally subsidized three-building, 124-unit high-rise complex at Crystal Avenue and State Pier Road under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Federal housing policy governs the eviction of convicted felons and of tenants and their guests who engage in drug-related criminal activity.

All of the alleged criminal incidents occurred in Building A.

On Feb. 24, members of New London Police Department's vice and intelligence section raided Apartment A44 of the high-rise, seizing 64 grams of heroin.

Earlier that month, a confidential informant working with police had called the tenant to arrange a purchase of heroin, according to a court document.

The informant went to the apartment under police surveillance and bought "a knotted plastic bag containing an amount of beige rock-like substance" from the woman's father, according to the document.

The tenant's 24-year-old boyfriend, Jacob Mena, was arrested, and police said the investigation is continuing.

Shontell said the authority had already taken action against the tenants of apartment A78 before a Nov. 29 incident in which a tenant was the target of a shooting that police said involved multiple weapons, including a Norinco AK-47 assault rifle that was recovered at the scene.

To date, six people have been charged in connection with the shooting, two of them the result of search warrants executed at Apartments A78 and A44, according to police.

Nehamiah Carrol, who listed his address as Apartment A78, was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, operating a drug factory, possession of a hallucinogen, possession of narcotics, possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to sell and possession of marijuana with intent to sell within 1,500 feet of a housing project.

He posted a $25,000 surety bond following his Jan. 7 arrest and on March 19 was again arrested on drug charges, court records indicate.

He posted a $1,000 bond in that case and is scheduled to appear in New London Superior Court on April 1.

Jeffery Saunders, 25, of Bronx, N.Y., was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and operating a drug factory.

Search warrants in the shooting have remained sealed because the investigation is continuing.

Shontell said that from time to time, the housing authority becomes aware of "problem units" and works with other agencies to resolve issues including child endangerment, illegal narcotics and pet neglect.

Tenants of the high-rise, working with local attorney Robert Reardon, brought a class-action lawsuit against the housing authority claiming the complex was unsanitary and crime-riddled.

Under a stipulated judgment reached in 2014, the housing authority is required to begin renovating or rebuilding the 124-unit apartment complex by November 2017.

k.florin@theday.com