8 arrested in major South Shore drug trafficking operation – Fall River Reporter

Eight people have been charged on account of a joint state, native, and federal takedown of a serious felony community trafficking medication all through Boston and the South Shore, Legal professional Common Maura Healey introduced as we speak.

These costs are the results of a two-year investigation by the AG Healey’s New England Fentanyl Strike Drive and accomplice companies – together with Massachusetts State Police assigned to the AG’s Workplace and the Commonwealth Interstate Narcotics Discount Enforcement Workforce, the Massachusetts State Police Gang Unit, the Boston Police Division, the Randolph Police Division, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Massachusetts Nationwide Guard – right into a drug distribution enterprise working in Boston and the South Shore. The AG’s Digital Proof Lab additionally assisted with the investigation.

Final week, authorities executed search warrants at 4 areas in Boston and one in Randolph netting roughly $300,000 in money and 565 grams of fentanyl, together with cocaine, suboxone, two firearms, and ammunition.

The next people have been charged in reference to the drug trafficking operation:

Rafael Melo Brea, age 31, of Boston
Trafficking in Fentanyl (100-200 grams) (1 depend)
Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Legal guidelines (1 depend)
Possession with Intent to Distribute a Class B Managed Substance (Cocaine) (1 depend)
Possession of Ammunition (1 depend)

Melo Brea was arraigned in West Roxbury District Court docket on Friday and money bail was set at $2,500. Yesterday, he was arraigned in Dorchester District Court docket and money bail was set at $100,000 with the situation that he give up any passports in his title.

Jorge Arias-Mendoza, age 32, of Boston
Trafficking in Fentanyl (200 Grams or Extra) (1 depend)
Trafficking in Fentanyl (10 Grams or Extra) (5 counts)
Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Legal guidelines (2 counts)
Distribution of Class A Managed Substance (Fentanyl), Subsequent Offense (3 counts)
Distribution of a Class B Managed Substance (Cocaine), Subsequent Offense (1 depend)

Possession of a Class B Managed Substance (Suboxone) (1 depend)

Arias-Mendoza was arraigned in Roxbury District Court docket on Thursday and money bail was set at $50,000 with the situations that he give up any passports not recovered, avoid and haven’t any contact with Wander Pimentel, and be monitored by GPS. He will likely be arraigned in Brockton and Quincy District Courts at later dates.

Wander Pimentel, 27, of Randolph
Trafficking in Fentanyl (100-200 grams) (1 depend)
Trafficking in Fentanyl (10 Grams or Extra) (13 counts)
Possession of a Class B Managed Substance (Suboxone) (1 depend)
Distribution of a Class A Managed Substance (Fentanyl), Subsequent Offense (12 counts)
Distribution of a Class B Managed Substance (Cocaine), Subsequent Offense (3 counts)
Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Legal guidelines (2 counts)

Pimentel was arraigned in Quincy District Court docket and bail was set at $50,000 with the situations that he avoid and haven’t any contact with Arias-Mendoza. He will likely be arraigned in Brockton District Court docket at a later date.

Fernando Castro-Rodriguez, 28, of Boston
Trafficking in Cocaine (18-36 grams) (1 depend)
Distribution of a Class A Managed Substance (Fentanyl), Subsequent Offense (1 depend)
Trafficking in Fentanyl (10 Grams or Extra) (5 counts)
Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Legal guidelines (1 depend)

Castro-Rodriguez was arraigned in Quincy District Court docket on Friday. Money bail was set at $5,000 and his bail was revoked on an open case in Stoughton. He will likely be arraigned in Brockton District Court docket at a later date.

Tracy Swaney, 25, Woonsocket, R.I.
Distribution of a Class A Managed Substance (3 counts)
Trafficking in Fentanyl (10 Grams or Extra) (3 counts)
Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Legal guidelines (1 depend)

Swaney was arraigned in Brockton District Court docket on Friday and money bail was set at $5,000.

Bryce Jones, 25, of Boston
Distribution of a Class A Managed Substance (Fentanyl) (2 counts)
Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Legal guidelines (1 depend)

Jones was arraigned in Brockton District Court docket and launched on private recognizance.

Tyshawn Sanders, 24, of Boston
Distribution of a Class A Managed Substance (Fentanyl) (2 counts)
Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Legal guidelines (1 depend)

Sanders was arraigned in Boston and Quincy District Courts on Friday and launched on private recognizance.

Handerson Santos Diaz, 40, of Boston
Possession of a Firearm With out an FID Card (2 counts)
Possession of Ammunition With out an FID Card (1 depend)

The AG’s New England Fentanyl Strike Drive was created in 2016 utilizing a $1 million grant from the U.S. Division of Justice’s Group Oriented Policing Companies Anti-Heroin Activity Drive and has since been strengthened with a virtually $3 million grant in 2018, a $2.6 million grant in 2019, and a $3.8 million grant in 2021, which have expanded ongoing multistate and cross-jurisdictional investigations.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorneys Common Kaitlyn O’Leary and Caitlin McDermott, each of AG Healey’s Enterprise, Main and Cyber Crimes Division.