FRAMINGHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - Authorities executing nearly 20 search warrants across Massachusetts and Rhode Island Thursday morning arrested over a dozen suspects as local and federal officials busted a “large scale” drug trafficking operation, according to the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office.
The DA’s office announced the arrests of 13 suspects as part of a multi-agency investigation involving federal, state and local authorities over the course of two years.
According to a news release from the office, the investigation culminated in 19 search warrants being executed Thursday in communities that included Framingham, Worcester, Lawrence, Ashland, Peabody, Northbridge and Woburn, Mass., as well as North Smithfield, Rhode Island.
Arrested were 13 suspects across eastern and central Mass. who now face numerous drug-related charges. The arrests and charges include:
- Sandy Marte-Caraballo, 34, Woburn, charged with: Trafficking Fentanyl, Trafficking Cocaine, Trafficking Methamphetamine, Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Laws
- Osny De La Cruz, 25, Lawrence, charged with: Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Laws, Trafficking in Fentanyl over 10 grams, Trafficking in Cocaine over 200 grams, Trafficking in Class B amphetamines over 200 grams, and Trafficking in Class B methamphetamines over 200 grams
- Santos Martes, 31, Peabody, charged with: Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Laws and Trafficking Cocaine over 200 grams
- Bryan Mendez, 28, Worcester, charged with: Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Laws and Trafficking Cocaine over 200 grams
- Angel Battiata, 27, No residence given, charged with: Trafficking of a Class B Controlled Substance
- Roberto Castro, 34, Worcester, charged with: Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Laws
- Joshua Fontaine, 30, Worcester, charged with: Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Laws, Trafficking in Cocaine over 36 grams, Trafficking in Methamphetamine over 36 grams
- Charles Johnston, 62, and Crystal Trauterman, 40, both from Ashland, charged with: Possession with intent to distribute Class B Controlled Substance (cocaine) and Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Laws
- Maia Masso, 28, Framingham, charged with: Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Laws and Trafficking in Cocaine over 36 grams
- Cameron Trudell, 32, Northbridge, charged with: Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Laws.
- Efrain Urena, 32, Lawrence, charged with: Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Laws and Trafficking Cocaine over 200 grams.
- Ana Caraballo, 56, Worcester, charged with: Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Laws and Trafficking Cocaine over 200 grams.
Authorities said approximately six kilograms of fentanyl, two kilograms of cocaine, 15 pounds of methamphetamine, 40 pounds of amphetamine and 15,000 pressed pills of fentanyl and methamphetamine were seized as a result of the search warrants.
Within some of the pills was the substance “xylazine, described by the DA’s office as a tranquilizer that has been “increasingly mixed with fentanyl and puts users at a higher risk of overdose and is not reversible with Narcan.”
RELATED: Biden administration declares fentanyl laced with xylazine ‘an emerging threat’ in the US
Police also seized an “unlawfully possessed firearm,” three loaded magazines and over $100,000 in cash and $200,000’s worth of jewelry, in addition to drug paraphernalia that included a pill press and gear “consistent with large scale drug distribution.”
“On February 23, 2023, a Middlesex Superior Court Justice issued a wiretap warrant authorizing the interception of electronic communications relating to drug trafficking,” the news release stated. “Over the course of the investigation, police and prosecutors gathered evidence that Sandy Marte-Caraballo and Osny De La Cruz were allegedly leading and operating a drug trafficking enterprise that included allegedly dealing fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine and pressed pills to customers in the Woburn, Lawrence, Framingham, Natick, Ashland and Worcester area.”
13 “high-end vehicles,” including a Mercedes Benz SDN, Range Rover, and BMW i8 were also seized during the operation, which involved state police in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, along with at least ten local police departments, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and United States Secret Service, among other agencies and task forces.
The DA’s office noted that evidence from the drug bust was still being processed and that additional charges were possible against those who were arrested.
(Copyright (c) 2025 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)