Press Release  Three Individuals Arraigned on Fentanyl Charges Stemming from Fentanyl Strike Force Investigation

LAWRENCE — Three individuals have been arraigned in Essex Superior Court in connection with a fentanyl trafficking operation as part of a joint federal and state investigation, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today.

The following individuals were arrested in March 2019 and later indicted by a Essex Superior Grand Jury as part of a two-month long investigation by Massachusetts State Police assigned to the AG’s Office, the Commonwealth interstate Narcotics Reduction Enforcement Team (CINRET) and the Drug Enforcement Administration that led to the seizure of approximately 708 grams of fentanyl:

Arraigned September 11:

Jean Marte-Velazquez, 27, of Lawrence
Trafficking Over 10 Grams of Fentanyl (two counts)
Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Laws (one count)
Bail set at $50,000 cash by Judge Jeffrey Karp

Arraigned August 30:

Severino Perez-Guzman, 29, of Lawrence
Trafficking Over 10 Grams of Fentanyl (two counts)
Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Laws (one count)
Possession of Child Pornography (one count)
Bail set at $250,000 cash by Judge Jeffrey Karp

Alex Martinez, 32, of Lawrence
Trafficking Over 10 Grams of Fentanyl (four counts)
Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Laws (one count)  
Bail set at $50,000 cash by Judge Jeffrey Karp

The three co-defendants will be in court on October 4 for a pre-trial hearing. A fourth co-defendant, Genesis Fernandez, 26, of Lawrence, is being prosecuted in Lawrence District Court.

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, and formed a Fentanyl Strike Force to aggressively combat the heroin and prescription drug abuse crisis in New England.

In October 2018, 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 Kaitlyn O’Leary and Chief Gina Kwon of the AG’s Enterprise, Major and Cyber Crimes Division

###