NEW YORK._ Ten Dominicans, including a woman and a minor, were arrested and charged with producing and selling $1 million worth of fentanyl on the street market during the “Philadelphia Special” operation in DEA, the FBI, the Massachusetts state police. , local agents and the state attorney’s office in Lawrence and other locations.
The drug traffickers, explained the statement from the State Police and the prosecutor’s office, are based in Lawrence where they maintain a laboratory and distribute the deadly drug to various locations in the Merrimack Valley and state adjacent to Massachusetts.
Rafael Saldaña DÃas, 26, a resident of Lawrence, is accused of being the leader of the gang and faces 5 counts of drug trafficking and one count of conspiracy. His bail was set at $250,000.
The statement said that in the group there was a minor who tried to flee with drugs and a gun in a backpack.
The other accused are Yosmeiry MartÃnez Ramón, Freddy Alexander Suazo Tejeda, Rafelin Lugo Tejeda, Yahannys Anziani, Agosto Moscat, Henderson MartÃnez, Wilkins Antonio Pérez, Marcos Santos, Henderson MartÃn and Miguel Medrano.
Santos was released on his own recognizance and the others face drug trafficking and conspiracy charges with bail ranging from $25,000 to $250,000.
Authorities announced the arrest of the suspects in the Merrimack Valley after a joint operation.
In the operation, search warrants were executed at seven locations in the cities of Lawrence, Lynn and Methuen, according to a statement by Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell.
The investigation, which began in November 2022, focused on a Lawrence-based drug trafficking organization that supplied fentanyl throughout the Merrimack Valley, investigators said.
Using a variety of traditional and electronic surveillance methods, agents obtained search warrants for five locations in Lawrence, one in Lynn and one in Methuen.
In one of the areas raided in Lawrence, a woman tried to take a minor with a backpack from the residence.
According to the investigators, they detained the woman and the minor and found a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol and ammunition inside her backpack.
Officers found an active fentanyl processing lab on the third floor of another location on Whitman Street in Lawrence.
Officers from the Lawrence Department of Health and Inspection Services responded to the scene to investigate building code violations and sealed off the third-floor apartment.
During the search, officers seized more than 18 kilograms of fentanyl, $10,000 in cash, two unlicensed semi-automatic pistols, a Mercedes Benz vehicle, and a portable hydraulic compartment used to store drugs. narcotics.
