Cops charge nearly two dozen in heroin, fentanyl drug ring

Nearly two dozen people involved in two drug trafficking rings that were pumping fentanyl and heroin through Taunton and the Hub were nabbed on drug charges yesterday as DEA agents and state police searched 12 locations in Fall River, New Bedford, Bridgewater, Boston, Brighton and Providence, officials say.

Fernando Rivera-Rodriguez, 31, of Boston and Fernando Hernandez, 42, of Providence, R.I., allegedly ran the drug trafficking rings in Boston and Taunton, respectively, and were among the 23 people charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin and fentanyl, acting U.S. Attorney William D. Weinreb said.

In addition to Rivera-Rodriguez and Hernandez, police charged the following people with conspiracy to distribute heroin and fentanyl: Glendalee Rodriguez, 33, of Fall River; Juan “Josiel” Morales-Ortiz, 27, of Boston; Jancer Soto, 25, of Boston; Jose “Traga” Camacho, 37, of Boston; Wilmi Hernandez-Diaz, 21, of Boston; Yeurys “Santos” Tejeda, 28, of Boston; Jose “Pacha” Narvaez-Arroyo, 35, of Boston; Jeffrey Freitas, 31, of Bridgewater; Isis “Izzy” Lugo-Guerrero, 44, of Boston; Jose Negron, 36, of Boston; Malvin “Bori” Berrios, 34, of Boston; Roger Longmire, 34, of Taunton; Stephanie O’Sullivan, 30, of Taunton; Omar Guzman, 39, of Taunton; Marisa Ruiz, 32, of Taunton; John Paul Tanguay, 33, of Taunton; Daniel Wren, 31, of Taunton; David Tejeda, 34, of New Bedford; Jose Arias, 21, of Providence; Carlos Miguel Gonzalez-Figueroa, 32, of Providence; and Crystal Rivera, 30, of Providence.

The defendants were ordered held following their initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Boston yesterday.

Yeurvs Tejeda and Carlos Gonzalez-Figueroa remain fugitives at large, Weinreb said.

“Today’s arrests will help stem the flow of heroin and fentanyl into our communities,” Weinreb said in a statement. “The defendants in this case knew the drugs that they were distributing were potent and potentially lethal, yet they continued to brazenly ignore the dangers and even expand their reach into Maine.”