BOSTON — Twenty-one men and women involved in two heroin and fentanyl operations in Massachusetts were arrested Tuesday, and two suspects remain at large.
Federal authorities said that the drug operations were being ran out of Boston and Taunton, with Fernando Rivera-Rodriguez, 31, running the Boston operation and Fernando Hernandez, 42, running the Taunton ring. The DEA investigation alleges Hernandez would get drugs from Rivera-Rodriguez and others.
“DEA is committed to investigating and dismantling large-scale violent, fentanyl and heroin drug trafficking organizations (DTO), like these operating in the South Coast and Boston area,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Ferguson.
The operations included a network of sellers that would then re-sell the drugs to users, some of which were also arrested. The affidavit alleges that Jose R. Narvaez-Arroyo, also known as Pacha, 35, of Boston, brokered a deal for Fernandez that included a kilogram of drugs; and Arroyo's associates also obtained illegal drugs by robbing other drug traffickers, said officials.
DEA officials were able to gather evidence through a court-authorized wiretap, which officials said revealed "the callous way in which the defendants talked about the deadly effects of the drugs they were distributing."
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The wiretap also caught Rivera-Rodriguez boasting about robbing cash and jewelry, said officials. For example, according to a news release, Rivera-Rodriguez said, “We took a little house and we took 13,000 and like three chains, man, and a couple of bracelets, right there in Saugus. And a little while ago, we took another one and took 7,000 from some people also.” Federal agents said they believe that Rivera-Rodriguez was referring to robbing two houses of more than $20,000 in cash and jewels.
All of the 21 arrested are charged with conspiring to distribute heroin and fentanyl from the summer of 2016 through the present:
- Fernando Rivera-Rodriguez, a/k/a Alex, a/k/a Antonio Moraima, 31, of Boston;
- Glendalee Rodriguez, 33, of Fall River;
- Juan Morales-Ortiz, a/k/a Josiel, 27, of Boston;
- Jancer Soto, 25, of Boston;
- Jose Camacho, a/k/a Traga, 37, of Boston;
- Wilmi Hernandez-Diaz, 21, of Boston;
- Yeurys Tejeda, a/k/a Santos, 28, of Boston;
- Jose R. Narvaez-Arroyo, a/k/a Pacha, 35, of Boston;
- Jeffrey Freitas, 31, of Bridgewater;
- Isis Y. Lugo-Guerrero, a/k/a Izzy, 44, of Boston;
- Jose Negron, a/k/a Edwin Padilla, a/k/a Luisito Bulto, 36, of Boston;
- Malvin Berrios, a/k/a Bori, 34, of Boston;
- Roger Longmire, 34, of Taunton;
- Stephanie O'Sullivan, 30, of Taunton;
- Omar Guzman, 39, of Taunton;
- Marisa Ruiz, 32, of Taunton;
- John Paul Tanguay, 33, of Taunton;
- Daniel Wren, 31, of Taunton;
- David Tejeda, 34, of New Bedford;
- Fernando Hernandez, a/k/a Mora, 42, of Providence, RI;
- Jose Arias, 21, of Providence, RI;
- Carlos Miguel Gonzalez-Figueroa, 32, of Providence, RI; and
- Crystal Rivera, 30, of Providence, RI.
The defendants were held following initial appearances in U.S. District Court in Boston this afternoon. Yeurvs Tejeda and Carlos Gonzalez-Figueroa remain fugitives at large.
The charging statute provides a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, a minimum of three years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $1 million.
Agencies that helped investigate the drug ring include the DEA, Massachusetts State Police and local police.
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