FRAMINGHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - One suspect remains on the run and five others have been arrested after three law enforcement operations dealt “crushing blows” to two significant, high-volume fentanyl trafficking organizations in Massachusetts last week, state police said.
The operations led to the seizure of 6.5 kilograms of fentanyl — worth nearly $1.5 million, pills, a firearm, a knife, and thousands of dollars of suspected drug proceeds over the span of less than two days, State Police Col. Chris Mason announced during a press conference Monday.
“This literally in front of me represents death,” Mason said in reference to the drugs seized. “We’ve had the unpleasant occasion to have to speak to a number of families that has suffered a loss due to opioids, so we understand the impact that this has.”
The most recent of the three operations began Friday when a successful joint investigation in southeastern Massachusetts the previous day led to information about a possible fentanyl drug trafficking organization operating out of Methuen.
Investigators arranged for the delivery of heroin by this organization to a location in Boston, according to state police.
Around 3 p.m. Friday, team members reportedly saw a woman involved in the drug trafficking organization leave an apartment located at 142 Pleasant St., enter a vehicle with a backpack and leave the area with another woman driving.
The vehicle traveled from Methuen to Boston on Interstate 93, where marked state police cruisers conduct a motor vehicle stop.
Troopers discovered nearly 2 kilograms of fentanyl inside the vehicle, state police said.
The two female suspects, Isadora Castro, 29, and Kaylin Guillermo, 33, were arrested for drug trafficking.
Meanwhile, a surveillance team who remained in Methuen observed the main target of the organization, Anthony Levine, 30, leave the residence and put suspected evidence in a vehicle in the parking lot, state police added.
He was temporarily detained as authorities worked to obtain search warrants for the apartment and the parked vehicle.
Around 1:20 a.m. Saturday, the team executed the warrants and seize an additional 1,745 grams of fentanyl, 145 grams of methamphetamine, 12 bags of green pills believed to be Xanax with a total weight of 334 grams, six bags of blue pills believe to be 30 milligram Oxycodone pills with a total weight of 67 grams, and $8,129 in United States currency, state police said.
Levine was allowed to leave the residence prior to the execution of the search warrant because of the length of time it took to secure it and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. He had on a court-ordered monitoring bracelet as a result of prior involvement in the criminal justice system, but Mason said he had cut it off.
Along with the nearly 4 kilograms of deadly opioids seized on Friday afternoon and early Saturday morning, another 2.5 kilograms of fentanyl was taken off the streets as a result of two additional law enforcement operations.
Team members surveying an apartment at 78 Liberty St. in Fall River on Thursday around 9 a.m. saw two people leave the apartment and drive away.
Investigators followed and stopped their car in Fall River and recovered a backpack containing about $11,600 in U.S. currency, state police said.
They then returned to the apartment and executed a search warrant, reportedly leading to the seizure of a digital scale consistent with use for drug distribution, U.S. currency, and documents establishing residency of the apartment.
The team also executed a search warrant on a Cadillac Escalade parked at the apartment, resulting in the findings of eight bricks of suspected fentanyl wrapped in cellphane and weighing about 814 grams, two plastic baggies containing suspected fentanyl, weighing about 97 grams and 44 grams, a revolver and ammunition, a pill bottle containing numerous light blue pills stamped M30, and a purse holding plastic baggies, a digital scale, and a knife, according to state police.
During the execution of the search warrants, troopers and officers developed information identifying a Lawrence-based supplier of the narcotics seized in Fall River.
Investigators arranged for a delivery of fentanyl by the supplier to an Applebee’s restaurant in Fall River on Thursday night.
Around 9:15 p.m., surveillance teams saw an older model Honda CRV pull into the restaurant parking lot. Authorities approached the CRV and placed the lone occupant, Jose Baez-Lara, 32, of Lawrence, into custody, state police said.
Troopers and officers located a gift bag on the front seat that contained a shoe box full of 15 blocked-shaped packages of suspected fentanyl that weighed about 1,534 grams, state police added.
Baez-Lara was transported to the state police – Darmouth barracks, where he was booked on narcotic trafficking charges.
Two people at the initial Fall River motor vehicle stop will also face charges, state police said. Their names have not been released.
State police say Baez-Lara and Levine were “highly-organized, multiple-kilogram level opioid distributors.”
“When CINRET and Gang Unit members arranged deliveries of narcotics, both targets were able to put together the requests and move large quantities of the product in a few hours, which leads investigators to believe they either had large quantities of fentanyl on hand or easily within access,” state police continued.
Intelligence reportedly suggests that both Baez-Lara and Levine have been supplying fentanyl and heroin to street-level dealers for more than a year, at least.
When asked what his message is to criminals drug dealers that think they can skirt law enforcement, Mason said, “We’re still very much in the game despite COVID and despite the other things that are going on both locally and nationally; that we still remain committed to fighting opioids and at the heart of that is dismantling these drug trafficking organizations.”
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