S. Florida couple charged with distribution of fentanyl

A South Florida couple have been charged in a 24-page federal indictment accusing them along with seven others of distributing the synthetic opioid fentanyl throughout eleven states, including Florida.

Drugs moved through the ring are linked to four deaths, court records show.

Anthony Santos Gomes and Elizabeth Ton, also known as Lisa Gomes, have court hearings in Fort Lauderdale this morning.

According to the indictment, the drug ring operated from January 2013 through August 2016 with two organizers participating from a Canadian prison and another operating out of China.

The ring moved more than 400 grams of fentanyl and more than 100 grams of a fentanyl analog online using internet sites designed to be hidden from the public.

The drugs were obtained from China and Canada, records show, and distributed in Florida, California, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, North Dakoa, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon and South Carolina.

Two of the ring’s leaders participated in the conspiracy while locked up at the Drummond Institution, a medium-security prison in Quebec, the indictment said.

And an organizer based in China, Jian Zhang, also known as Hong Kong Zaron, used a business named Zaron Bio-tech to operate from overseas, according to the indictment.

The drugs were linked to a Jan. 19, 2014 death in Garland, N.C.; a Feb. 23, 2014 death in Ramsey, N.J.; a Jan. 3, 2015 death in Grand Forks, N.D.; and a March 21, 2015 death in Portland, Ore., court records show.

tealanez@sun-sentinel.com, 954-356-4542 or Twitter @talanez