Press Release  Attorney General's Office Secures Guilty Plea, Ten-Year Sentence Following Seizure Of $1.2 Million Of Counterfeit Pills In Saugus

SAUGUS — The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AGO) today announced that Pedro Lopez, 32, of Lynn has plead guilty to several drug and gun charges and was sentenced to ten years in prison after Massachusetts State Police (MSP), in partnership with the Lynn Police Department’s Drug Task Force, found approximately $1.2 million worth of counterfeit pills and three firearms while executing a search warrant at a luxury apartment complex in Saugus.

MSP’s Commonwealth Interstate Narcotics Reduction Enforcement Team North (CINRET-North) received information in November 2022 that a large quantity of narcotics was located in a unit at The Residences at Stevens Pond on Rock Wood Drive. That same day, troopers secured the apartment and applied for and were granted a search warrant for the residence. During the execution of the warrant, investigators seized approximately 23,000 grams of pressed pill Methamphetamine, approximately 3,900 grams of pressed pill Fentanyl, and three firearms, including one “ghost gun,” or privately manufactured firearm.

Per a 2024 DEA Threat Assessment, “fake prescription pills containing fentanyl present an extreme danger. Most of these fake pills are made to look nearly identical to real prescription pills, such as oxycodone (M30, Percocet); hydrocodone (Vicodin); or alprazolam (Xanax) – the fentanyl content in these fake pills is known only after laboratory analysis. In 2023, DEA forensic laboratory analysis showed that approximately 7 in 10 fake pills contain a potentially deadly dose of fentanyl (approximately 2 milligrams).”

Further investigation revealed that Lopez was not living at the Saugus apartment but likely used the location to store large quantities of narcotics. Investigators determined that the Saugus apartment was rented in the name of an individual whose identity had been stolen and who did not reside in Massachusetts.

After a thorough investigation, including a review of evidence seized at the apartment, latent fingerprint analysis from prints recovered on the pills, digital evidence, and call detail analysis obtained via search warrant and subpoenas, investigators obtained a warrant for Lopez’s arrest in May 2023 and charged him with six counts of Trafficking Methamphetamine (200g or more), Trafficking Fentanyl (200g or more), Trafficking Fentanyl (18g or more), Trafficking Cocaine (18g or more), three counts of Possession of a Firearm without a License, and Possession of Ammunition for the drugs found at the apartment as well as drugs on his person during his arrest. Investigators also seized approximately $140,000 in cash during the execution of related search warrants and Lopez’s arrest.

On January 10, 2025, Lopez plead guilty to his charges and was sentenced in Essex County Superior Court to serve ten years in prison and two years probation upon completion of the sentence.

This matter was prosecuted by Chief Christina Ronan of the AGO’s Enterprise and Major Crimes Division in partnership with troopers from MSP’s CINRET-North, troopers assigned to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Enterprise & Major Crimes Division, and the Lynn Police Department’s Drug Task Force.  Assistance was provided by the Organized Crime and Gang Unit of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts and the FBI North Shore Gang Task Force.

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