Lawrence busts bring two kilos of fentanyl
Over two kilograms of the deadly opioid fentanyl was seized by police in separate drug busts in Lawrence this week, an amount capable of causing over a million fatal overdoses.
The seizures were made through joint law enforcement efforts involving State Police Gang Unit troopers, Lawrence detectives and agents from the FBI and Homeland Security, officials said.
According to State Police, officers arrested 28-yearold Manuel Estheulis-Almonte on Wednesday and charged him with trafficking more than 200 grams of fentanyl. He was arraigned Thursday in Lawrence District Court and ordered held on $250,000 cash bail.
State police said members of the gang unit executed a search warrant for Estheulis-Almonte’s High Street apartment after allegedly witnessing him take part in a drug deal earlier in the day.
Estheulis-Almonte allegedly accepted $60 from a man, returned to his apartment, then came back out and began walking up High Street. Police said they suspected the man who gave the $60 was supposed to circle the block in his truck and meet up with Estheulis-Almonte again, where he would then receive over two grams of fentanyl.
However, police said that before the alleged transaction could happen, officers approached Estheulis-Almonte and he began to run, but was apprehended after a brief chase.
While Estheulis-Almonte did not want his apartment to be searched, police said he allowed them to return to his apartment with him in order to retrieve his ID, and when he went inside two troopers saw several twisted small plastic baggies containing what they suspected to be fentanyl.
Police said the troopers immediately exited and secured the apartment, and then applied for a search warrant. Upon searching the apartment, officers reportedly seized approximately 734 grams of fentanyl in numerous packages in a bedroom closet and a dresser.
The day before, authorities executed an undercover purchase of fentanyl in Lawrence and arrested two brothers allegedly in possession of 1,448 grams of the drug.
Jose Carmona, 30, and Gabriel Carmona-Pimentel, 35, were arraigned in Lawrence District Court and charged with multiple counts of trafficking fentanyl.
Police said they made the undercover purchase of 224 grams of fentanyl at the intersection of Lexington and Buswell streets and saw Carmona walk there from the rear basement door of a nearby building.
After arresting Carmona, police said they went inside the building and knocked on the door of an apparent illegal apartment in the basement. Gabriel Carmona-Pimentel reportedly answered the door and was arrested, as there was a warrant for his arrest for trafficking fentanyl, police said.
After receiving a warrant, police said they searched the apartment and found an additional 1,224 grams.
The two busts were not related, according to State Police.
“Historically we’ve seen the Merrimack Valley, including Lawrence, as an active location for drug trafficking,” said State Police spokesman David Procopio. “But it’s far from the only place in the state, fentanyl is something we are combating everywhere in Massachusetts.”
With a potency 50 to 100 times the strength of morphine, merely 2 milligrams of fentanyl can be enough to kill a person, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. However, DEA officials have said that a fatal dose can be as small as a quarter of a milligram, meaning a total of 2,182 grams — the combined amount from both busts — is enough to kill between one million and 8.7 million people.