14 DAY TRIAL // A massive joint operation has led to the capture of some 100 individuals involved in two drug trafficking rings operating in New London County, Connecticut.
Christian Post quotes District Attorney David Fein as he describes detaining 103 people with the help of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
“We allege that the defendants arrested today were responsible for a very large percentage of the heroin and cocaine available for street sale in New London County,” Fein says during a press conference at Camp Niantic in East Lyme.
According to The Lymes Patch, Fein details about how the gangs would smuggle the drugs from the Dominican Republican and Puerto Rico.
Dominican Republican native Luis Ariel Capellan Maldonado, aka “Ariel,” has been pinpointed as the head of an organization distributing heroin in southeastern Connecticut.
An investigation into operations conducted from his New London apartment revealed that he would give out 50 to 150 grams of raw heroin to wholesalers.
His associate Enrique “Ipi” Luciano would distribute the merchandise to Miguel “Neow” Morales who would then pass it along to other sellers.
Pedro “Cheito” Rivera was busted for selling cocaine procured from Puerto Rico along with accomplice Luis “Guichan” Zayas.
An inquiry revealed that they would sometimes mail the drugs from Puerto Rico to the United States, which they would then sell to other associates including Frankie Rivera, Juan G. “Guinchi” Cheverez and Axel Matta Figueroa, known as “Joelito.”
“The result of this operation is nothing short of significant and it underscores what the people expect from law enforcement: Keep drugs out of our neighborhoods.
“These arrests will keep the citizens of New England safer from the inevitable violence that drug trafficking brings, and chokes off a major drug stream into Connecticut – the largest our agency has ever uncovered in the state's history,” says Bruce M. Foucart, head of Homeland Security Investigation’s Boston division.