Feds charge 8 with cartel-connected drug dealing in Boston

A federal drug “strike force” has nailed eight men on charges connected to a drug-running operation that’s been bringing cocaine and fentanyl from the infamous Sinaloa cartel of Mexico to the streets of Boston, according to the DEA.

“All eyes have been on the COVID pandemic, but the opioid epidemic continues to kill thousands of people in Massachusetts each year,” Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel Mendell said.

The following men are charged with trafficking fentanyl and cocaine and conspiring to launder money in connection with the investigation: Cesar Alejandro Castro Pujols, a Dominican national with a slew of aliases living in Milton; Andre Heraux Martinez, a Dominican national from Hyde Park; Fermin Castillo of Mexico; Saturnino Guerrero, a Dominican national from Roxbury; Kevin Carmona Victorino, of Dorchester; and Kevin Hayes, of Centerville.

Also charged with laundering money are Chinese nationals Songfeng Chen of Quincy and Chi Ying of Malden.

Federal Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force Officer Mark Concannon hammered out an 88-page affidavit to show probable cause for the arrests, writing that he’s been involved with this particular investigation as part of a “strike force” since November 2019.

Concannon wrote that he believes Castillo works for the Sinaloa cartel, and he makes arrangement to get “large quantities” of drugs to Castro, who’s the leader of the Boston drug-slinging organization that’s working with them. He wrote that Castro is in charge of disseminating the drugs to other dealers, getting money from them and laundering some of it through other people.

Undercover agents have also collected hundreds of thousands of dollars meant for the cartel, Concannon wrote. Heraux delivered $75,000 to a cop at La Bamba Market — which is owned by Castillo’s family — in Mattapan, the feds say.

Concannon wrote that Castro’s “paramour” works at El Rincon restaurant in Hyde Park, and the feds say Castro liked to make drug transactions there, too.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/39daJlj