Press Release  Lawrence Couple Arrested, Arraigned on Fentanyl and Cocaine Trafficking Charges

Boston — Two Lawrence residents have been arrested and arraigned in Lawrence District Court in connection with a heroin/fentanyl and cocaine trafficking operation as part of a joint federal and state investigation, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today.

Arianna Camilo Disla, 32, was arrested in Lawrence on December 6 after investigators uncovered 20 grams of cocaine and 20 grams of fentanyl when a search warrant was executed at her residence. She was arraigned December 7 in Lawrence District Court on charges of Trafficking Over 18 Grams of Cocaine (one count) and Trafficking Over 10 Grams of Fentanyl (one count). Disla pleaded not guilty to the charges and Judge Lynn Rooney set bail at $10,000 cash. A probable cause hearing has been scheduled for January 9.

Julio Rivera, 36, was arrested December 11 after allegedly making several sales of fentanyl to an undercover police officer in November and fleeing law enforcement on December 6. Rivera was arraigned December 12 in Lawrence District Court on charges of Trafficking Over 10 Grams of Fentanyl (five counts), Trafficking Over 18 Grams of Cocaine (one count), Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Law (one count) and Resisting Arrest (one count). Rivera pleaded not guilty to the charges and Judge Michael Uhlarik set bail at $200,000 cash. A probable cause hearing has been scheduled for January 9. 

These charges are the result of an investigation involving the AG’s Enterprise, Major and Cyber Crime Division, Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Commonwealth Interstate Narcotics Reduction Enforcement Team (CINRET) and the AG’s Office, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

This investigation is ongoing. These charges are allegations and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The AG’s Office has been working closely with its federal, state and local partners to combat illegal drug trafficking. AG Healey formed a Fentanyl Strike Force to more aggressively combat the heroin and prescription drug abuse crisis in New England. In October, the AG’s Office announced the Fentanyl Strike Force had been awarded a nearly $3 million grant to expand its efforts to combat the opioid epidemic and disrupt drug and fentanyl trafficking throughout Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The AG’s Office won this grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services Anti-Heroin Task Force grant program and was one of just 17 proposals funded nationally and the only awarded in New England.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Megan McLaughlin of the AG’s Enterprise, Major and Cyber Crimes Division. The case is being investigated by the AG’s Enterprise, Major and Cyber Crime Division, Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Commonwealth Interstate Narcotics Reduction Enforcement Team (CINRET) and the AG’s Office, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

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