Press Release  Lawrence Man Arrested and Arraigned in Connection with Heroin and Fentanyl Trafficking

Boston — A Lawrence man was arrested and arraigned this week as part of a joint federal and state investigation into a heroin and fentanyl trafficking operation in Methuen and Lawrence.

Pedro Jimenez-Rosario, 33, of Lawrence was arrested Wednesday after investigators executed search warrants at locations in Methuen and Lawrence and discovered more than 100 grams of heroin/fentanyl. During the course of the investigation, law enforcement also conducted controlled purchases of more than 400 grams of heroin/fentanyl from the defendant.

Jimenez-Rosario was arraigned Thursday in Lawrence District Court on charges of Trafficking Heroin, Over 100 Grams (two counts), Trafficking Heroin, Over 200 Grams (one count), and Trafficking Fentanyl, Over 10 Grams (one count). Judge Holly Broadbent set bail at $200,000 and scheduled a probable cause hearing for November 15.

These charges are the result of an investigation led by AG Healey’s Enterprise, Major and Cyber Crimes Division, Massachusetts State Police Commonwealth Interstate Narcotics Reduction Enforcement Team (CINRET), the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Taskforce 1, and Homeland Security Investigations.

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 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. Last year, the 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 and was one of just 17 proposals funded nationally and the only awarded in New England.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorneys General Abrisham Eshghi and Stephen Carley of the AG’s Enterprise, Major and Cyber Crimes Division.

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