KEY POINTS

  • Ortiz-Alcantara’s DTO allegedly involved a child in at least one distribution transaction
  • Nearly 15 kilograms of suspected fentanyl was seized during the arrests
  • Fentanyl-related deaths have been increasing in Massachusetts and Rhode Island

Authorities arrested 10 individuals Tuesday for their alleged involvement in a drug trafficking organization (DTO) that operated across Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts. The arrested persons are also accused of involving a child at one point while carrying out their operations.

In a media release from the District of Massachusetts Attorney’s Office, authorities said 10 people were arrested for allegedly being involved in a DTO that distributed fentanyl in Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Charging documents showed that the DTO led by Estarlin Ortiz-Alcantara had been under the watch of law enforcement since March 2021. Authorities seized 14.9 kilograms of suspected fentanyl from target locations related to the group during the arrests.

Authorities were able to intercept communications recorded on “numerous cellphones” that allegedly identified the following people as members of Ortiz-Alcantara’s fentanyl-distributing group: Rafael Cesar Cabreja Jimenez, Mario Rafael Dominguez-Ortiz, Alfredo Rodriguez, and Yeury Francisco Garcia-Rodriguez.

Court documents further revealed that the said members conspired with Ortiz-Alcantara to distribute multiple kilograms of fentanyl from a Fall River stash house. Members of the DTO allegedly conducted drug transactions with five regular customers in public areas such as supermarket parking areas and an unnamed store’s diaper aisle. The alleged customers of the DTO were identified as Edwin Collazo, Jose Santiago, Michael Pacheco, Jason Cruz, and Rebecca Bartholomew.

On at least one occasion during distribution transactions, the group allegedly concealed drugs in cereal boxes while they were accompanied by a child.

The arrested suspects have been charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. If convicted, they will face a jail sentence of up to 20 years, a fine of up to $1 million, and up to a lifetime of supervised release.

Fentanyl-related cases have been rampant in Massachusetts and Rhode Island in recent months. Earlier on Tuesday, the Attorney’s Office revealed that Lawrence resident Ronald Carmona was found guilty of trafficking fentanyl nearly three years after his 2019 arrest.

Late in June, Juni Rafael Jimenez-Martinez was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison at the U.S. District Court in Providence for allegedly overseeing and directing the distribution of about nine million lethal doses of fentanyl before he was arrested in 2019.

According to data from the Massachusetts government, “fentanyl remains a persistent factor in opioid-related overdose deaths” in the state. The government report noted that “preliminary data show fentanyl was present at a rate of 93 percent where a toxicology report was available.”

Over in Rhode Island, fentanyl overdose deaths have also been on the rise. A spokesman for the Rhode Island Department of Health, Joseph Wendelken told The Providence Journal in May that about 75% of the total drug overdose deaths in the state were related to fentanyl. “We’re seeing fentanyl in all sorts of different street drugs,” he said.

The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) says the synthetic opioid fentanyl “is 50-100 times stronger than morphine.” Some of the opioid’s street names include China White and Great Bear.

Plastic bags of Fentanyl are displayed on a table at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection area at the International Mail Facility at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. November 29, 2017.
Plastic bags of Fentanyl are displayed on a table at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection area at the International Mail Facility at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. November 29, 2017. Reuters / JOSHUA LOTT
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