Alleged fentanyl-dealing gang nabbed in Brockton
After spending 10 days on the run, a fugitive member of an alleged fentanyl-dealing gang in Brockton known as the “Head Shot Mafia” was arrested Wednesday, ending the two-month reign of a gang that police said dealt large amounts of deadly opioids across southeastern Massachusetts.
Jason Miranda, 24, of Taunton was taken into custody after police apprehended the three other alleged members of Head Shot Mafia on Oct. 16.
Miranda and Brockton residents Placido Armando Pereira, 33, Natalio Miranda, 28, and Djoy Defrancesco, 23, were all charged with conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
According to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office, the four-person crew ran a fentanyl delivery service that covered all of Brockton and surrounding cities, in which customers allegedly placed orders by contacting various members through a shared cellphone.
Officials said investigators were able to bust the crew by having an undercover officer make six purchases of fentanyl from them.
According to court documents, police began investigating Head Shot Mafia in part due to Miranda’s public posts on Instagram, in which he held guns and flaunted large stacks of money.
In addition to fentanyl, when Miranda was apprehended police seized a firearm and $28,000 in cash, according to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office.
The charge of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million, according to State Police.
Several of the alleged gang members have criminal records, State Police said, including Pereira, who, in 2010, was arrested on drug trafficking charges at Logan International Airport as he returned from Cape Verde. In 2014, he was also the target of a murder attempt in Brockton.