Arrest sweep targets traffic in fentanyl
State Police executed arrest warrants on 40 suspected distributors Tuesday morning in an assault on Brockton’s fentanyl supply web.
As State Police Col. Christopher Mason began a press conference on the outskirts of the Brockton Fairgrounds, arrest warrants had been executed on 34 alleged traffickers. By the end of the press conference, that number had shot up by six more as 13 police units — 100 troopers and Brockton Police officers in total — continued to sweep the surrounding community.
“Today’s operation shows that when law enforcement works with the community, it can reduce crime, prevent overdoses and remove dangerous felons from the streets,” Brockton Police Chief Brenda Perez said in a statement. The MSP and Brockton Police joined up in early May to combat a growing open-air drug market in the city by first conducting street-level drug buys to make their way up to midlevel local distributors.
“We’re looking for the people that are profiting from the sale of these drugs and seeking to identify and curtail their activities,” Mason told the Herald, “and then, obviously try to work them up higher and ultimately identify the drug trafficking organization that is supplying this area, of which there is obviously more than one.”
The opioid problem in the areas has gotten worse over the last five or six years or so, Mason said, as what was once cocaine, heroin and pills have been replaced in large part by the synthetic opioid fentanyl.
The CDC says fentanyl is 50 times more powerful than heroin and 100 times more powerful than morphine.
“Alarmingly, many of the prescription pills, or what people think are prescription pills — they’re obviously not getting them through a prescription — are pressed fentanyl,” Mason said. “So kids that think they may be doing Adderall, think they may be doing an oxy, some other prescription pills are in fact doing fentanyl.”
By the afternoon, 16 of the 40 suspects were in custody and largely charged with trafficking Class A narcotics — primarily fentanyl — and Class B narcotics, largely cocaine. Another 17 people were arrested on unrelated outstanding warrants or on incidental offenses as police encountered them. Those 16 people are: ERNEST BROCKINGTON, 34, of Brockton, distribution of a Class B narcotic. KALI RICHARDSON, 42, of Brockton, trafficking in fentanyl more than 10 grams, distribution of a Class A narcotic, distribution of a Class B narcotic. TREVELL STARKS, 39, of Brockton, distribution of a Class B narcotic, conspiracy to violate drug laws. SABRINA MARIE VELASQUEZ,
33, of Brockton, distribution of a Class A narcotic, distribution of a Class B narcotic. NICOLE JEANNE VIERA, 25, of Brockton, distribution of a Class B narcotic, conspiracy to violate drug laws. XIANDRA S. CABRAL, 37, of Brockton, distribution of a Class B narcotic subsequent offense; trafficking cocaine, unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number, conspiracy to violate drug laws. LEMAR LUGO, 32, of Brockton, distribution of a Class A substance subsequent offense, conspiracy to violate drug laws. ELIONEL ESTEVAN ORTIZ, 23, of Brockton, larceny by false pretense. CARLOS BAEZ, 45, of Brockton, distribution of a Class B narcotic subsequent offense; trafficking cocaine, unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number, conspiracy to violate drug laws. VICTOR ELIOTT, 55, of Brockton, distribution of a Class A narcotic; distribution of a Class B narcotic. SAM METELLUS, 40, of Brockton, distribution of cocaine. MORGADA BARBOSA, 52, of Brockton, distribution of a Class B narcotic. EUCLIDES FERNANDES MARTINS, 38, of Rockland, distribution of a Class B narcotic. ERIKA L. COMEAU, 39, of Brockton, distribution of a Class B narcotic. FAUSTO NICHOLAS, 39, of Brockton, distribution of a Class A narcotic, conspiracy to violate drug laws. GERALDO COLON, 57, of Brockton, distribution of a Class A narcotic, subsequent offense