74K Fentanyl-, Meth-Laced Pills Seized In Major North Shore Drug Bust

BOSTON — More than 74,000 pills laced with methamphetamine and fentanyl were seized and 23 people from cities and towns across the North Shore were charged as part of a major drug trafficking operation bust Wednesday, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The defendants, which include residents of Beverly, Danvers, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott, were charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said Lawrence Michael Nagle, of Saugus, and Christopher Nagle, of Revere, were the leaders of the operation in which Adderall, Xanax, and Oxycodone pills containing methamphetamine and fentanyl were distributed, along with cocaine and marijuana.

Court documents accuse the leaders of using a small network of people, headed by Nelson Mora, of Lynn, Javier Bello, of Beverly, and Anthony Bryson, of Billerica, who then used pill press machines to create counterfeit pills.

"The practice of disguising fentanyl and other dangerous drugs as prescription medication is especially nefarious for the dangers it poses to unsuspecting users and the new addictions it fuels," State Police Superintendent Col. Christopher Mason said in a news release. "I commend the
DEA, our Commonwealth Interstate Narcotics Trafficking Reduction and Enforcement task force, and the multiple partner agencies for their superb work interdicting this drug organization.

"The neighborhoods of the North Shore are safer today for their efforts."

Those charged from the North Shore include Frantz Adolphe, of Lynn, Raymond Kulakowski, of Lynn, Soyanna Lages, of Somerville, David Muise, of Swampscott, David Delauri, of Haverhill, Savannah Lee Bartone, of Peabody, Alexander Villar, of Danvers, Kion Shephard, of Salem, Melvin Nieves, of Lynn, Erick Solis Lopez, of Salem, Christopher Tejeda, of Lynn, Edward Ortiz, of Swampscott, Justin Westmoreland, of Saugus, Yaira Ramos-Rivera, of Billerica, Jose Garcia, of Roslindale, Anna Bryson, of Saugus, and Chevon Dorce, of Lynn.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said law enforcement seized 24 kilograms of contaminated Adderall pills containing methamphetamine and more than 1,000 Oxycodone pills containing fentanyl.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said a search warrant search also found a pill press, plastic bags containing about three to four kilograms of suspected fentanyl in various colors, and suspected counterfeit pills packaged for sale, as well as a gun.

"We allege the defendants participated in a large-scale drug ring that was prepared to distribute tens of thousands of counterfeit Adderall pills containing methamphetamine in addition to the counterfeit Adderall pills and counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl that they were actually distributing into neighborhoods on the North Shore," U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins said. "Disguised to look like your average prescriptions from the pharmacy, these pills contained deadly narcotics — including fentanyl, which is 100 times more potent than morphine, and methamphetamine, which also has been responsible for countless overdose deaths.

"As a result of this investigation, North Shore residents are safer now with more than 74,000 potentially deadly pills removed from their streets."

The U.S. Attorney's Office said it received valuable assistance in the bust from the Beverly, Billerica, Everett, Peabody, Revere, Salem, Saugus and Swampscott police departments.