Massachusetts man charged in Rhode Island after over 3 pounds of crystal meth seized

PROVIDENCE – A Massachusetts man has been ordered detained in federal custody on drug trafficking charges after DEA Task Force agents and Boston Police detectives allegedly interrupted the delivery of more than three pounds of crystal methamphetamine, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.

It is alleged in charging documents that Rhode Island DEA Task Force agents developed information that 31-year-old Hector Gonzalez Michel of Lawrence was preparing to deliver a substantial quantity of crystal meth to a person in Boston who allegedly supplied the drug to others. Gonzalez Michel was approached by Rhode Island and Boston DEA task force agents and Boston Police Detectives as he arrived outside a Boston residence where, it is alleged, he was to have delivered the drugs. It is alleged that he was found to be carrying 3.4 lbs. of crystal methamphetamine stored inside a small cooler.

Gonzalez Michel made an initial appearance in federal court in Providence on Friday, charged by way of a criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances in excess of 500 hundred grams and distribution of controlled substances in excess of 500 grams. A federal criminal complaint is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stacey P. Veroni.

The Rhode Island DEA Drug Task Force is comprised of personnel from the DEA; Rhode Island State Police; the East Providence, Cranston, Coventry, Newport, North Kingstown, Pawtucket, Providence, South Kingstown, Warwick, West Warwick, and Woonsocket and Amtrak Police Departments; and the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation.

Members of the DEA Boston Task Force Group 5 assisted in the investigation and arrest of Gonzalez Michel.