- Office of Attorney General Maura Healey
Media Contact for Two Individuals Indicted on Charges of Heroin and Fentanyl Trafficking
Chloe Gotsis
SALEM — Two individuals have been indicted by an Essex County Grand Jury in connection with a fentanyl trafficking operation on the North Shore as part of a joint federal and state investigation in which investigators seized more than 3.8 kilograms of fentanyl, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today.
On Thursday, Willians Ramirez, 29, of Lawrence, and Jose Guerrero-Nunez, 41, of Haverhill, were charged with Trafficking a Class A Controlled Substance (Heroin) Over 200 Grams (one count each), Trafficking Fentanyl (one count each), Possession with Intent to Distribute a Class E Controlled Substance (one count each), Unlawful Possession of a Loaded Firearm (one count each), and Conspiracy to Violate the Controlled Substances Act (one count each). Guerrero-Nunez was also charged with Furnishing a False Name or Social Security Number at Arrest (three counts) and Fraudulently Using or Obtaining a License/RMV Document (two counts). Guerrero-Nunez’s additional charges were in connection with three incidents in Lawrence in 2014, 2017, and 2019. The defendants will be arraigned on the charges in Essex Superior Court at a later date.
The charges stem from an investigation that started in 2019 by the Massachusetts State Police Commonwealth Interstate Narcotics Reduction Enforcement Team (North), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Homeland Security Investigations. During the execution of active arrest warrants for both defendants on March 13, investigators seized a stash of controlled substances and cutting agents weighing approximately 3.8 kilograms, as well as a loaded firearm. Laboratory testing later confirmed trafficking weights of heroin and fentanyl as well as the presence of Class E substances.
AG Healey’s Office has prioritized combatting the opioid crisis and has been working closely with federal, state and local partners to fight illegal drug trafficking throughout New England. The AG’s Fentanyl Strike Force was created in 2016 using a $1 million grant from the US Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services Anti-Heroin Task Force and has since been strengthened with a nearly $3 million grant in 2018 and a $2.6 million grant in 2019, which have expanded ongoing multistate and cross-jurisdictional investigations.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorneys General Stephen Carley and Abrisham Eshghi of AG Healey’s Enterprise, Major and Cyber Crimes Division.
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