DEA Seizes 'Tesla' Fentanyl After Bust In Worcester

WORCESTER, MA — A Worcester man has been charged with fentanyl distribution after an arrest by a Drug Enforcement Agency task force on Monday at the Goodwill store along Park Avenue. Police seized about $10,000 worth of fentanyl and ecstasy, and some pills were decorated with the Tesla logo and with a character from the "Transformers" franchise, according to court documents.

The investigation began in November when an informant made contact with Johanny Torres-Rojas, of Pleasant Street, to buy fentanyl. Between November and December, the informant bought fentanyl and ecstasy laced with methamphetamine from Torres-Rojas five times at different locations in the city, according to court documents. Each transaction was monitored by police.

During one meeting on Nov. 20, the informant bought about 300 pills from Torres-Rojas inside the Worcester Goodwill store. Torres-Rojas put the pills in a black sock on top of his shopping cart to make the sale, court documents say.

Between November and December, Torres-Rojas sold over $10,000 worth of fentanyl and methamphetamine to the informant, according to court records.

The informant then arranged to buy 2,500 pills — 500 fentanyl, 2,000 ecstasy — from Torres-Rojas for $10,000. They agreed to meet at the Goodwill store on Jan. 13 to make the exchange, according to court documents.

At around 1 p.m. on Monday, Torres-Rojas handed the informant a Chivas Regal box filled with pills while the two sat in a car in the Goodwill parking lot. When they exchanged money, members of the DEA task force swooped in and arrested Torres-Rojas. He was later charged with one count of distribution of fentanyl, according to court documents.

This is the second large fentanyl bust in Worcester recently. In December, state police seized about 5 pounds of the deadly synthetic opioid from an Indian Lake apartment. A 33-year-old Worcester man was charged after that raid.

Fentanyl has become the top cause of deadly drug overdoses in Massachusetts, according to the state Department of Public Health. Fentanyl is often mixed with drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin. As of November, 903 people had died in Massachusetts in 2019 of opioid overdoses — fentanyl was present in 93 percent of those overdoses, according to DPH.