Three Lawrence men arrested in drug sting
4.5 kilos of heroin and/or fentanyl seized
Three Lawrence men have been charged in connection with a major drug-trafficking investigation in which police seized nearly 5 kilograms of fentanyl and heroin and two illegal guns, Attorney General Maura Healey said Friday.
Francis Arias Soto, 38; Pedro Pagan, 31; and Jose Gonzalez, 42, were arrested Tuesday in Lawrence and arraigned the following day in Lawrence District Court.
Soto pleaded not guilty to 13 counts of trafficking 36 to 100 grams of heroin/fentanyl and two counts of trafficking 200 or more grams of heroin/fentanyl. Cash bail was set at $750,000 with the conditions that he surrender his passport and is not released without a GPS monitor.
Pagan was charged with 11 counts of trafficking 36 to 100 grams of heroin/fentanyl; two counts each of trafficking 200 or more grams of heroin/fentanyl and possession of a firearm without a Firearm Identification Card; and one count each of possession of ammunition without an FID Card and possession of a firearm in a felony.
He pleaded not guilty to most of the counts and will be arraigned on the remaining charges on April 2. Cash bail was set at $500,000 with the condition that he surrender his passport.
Gonzalez pleaded not guilty to two counts of trafficking 36 to 100 grams of heroin/fentanyl and one count each of trafficking 200 or more grams of heroin/fentanyl and conspiracy. Cash bail was set at $75,000 with the condition that Gonzalez surrender his passport.
All three are due back in Lawrence District Court on April 2.
Police used a warrant on Tuesday to search a Lawrence apartment, where they seized 4.5 kilograms of heroin/fentanyl and two guns.
The seizures followed a series of more than 20 controlled undercover drug buys in Massachusetts and New Hampshire during an investigation that spanned 13 months.
The AG’s Office said it has prioritized combatting the opioid crisis and has been working closely with federal, state and local partners to fight illegal drug trafficking throughout New England.
The AG’s Fentanyl Strike Force was created in 2016, using a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services Anti-Heroin Task Force and has since been strengthened with a nearly $3 million grant in 2018 and a $2.6 million grant in 2019, which have expanded ongoing multistate investigations.