Four accused of trafficking drugs throughout Massachusetts, New Hampshire; fentanyl, cocaine, meth, pill press, $52,000+ seized

BOSTON – Four men were arrested Friday for their alleged roles in a drug trafficking conspiracy operating throughout the states of Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts, 31-year-old Esaias Gill-Gonzalez of Lawrence, Mass.; 28-year-old Domingo Lugo Diaz of Lawrence, Mass.; 27-year-old Cote Colby of Derry, N.H.; and 25-year-old Keith Lane of Salisbury, Mass., were arrested on charges of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances involving fentanyl, cocaine base and methamphetamine. All four were detained following their initial appearance in federal court and will return on April 28, 2023 for a probable cause and detention hearing.

According to the charging documents, the investigation, which began in September 2022, intercepted communications on numerous cellphones between drug dealers operating in the Merrimack Valley areas of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. It is alleged that the defendants distributed fentanyl, cocaine base and methamphetamine, as well as counterfeit pills containing fentanyl.

During Friday’s arrests, fentanyl, cocaine, cocaine base and methamphetamine were seized along with a pill press and over $52,000 in suspected drug proceeds.

The charge of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least three years and up to a lifetime supervised release and a fine of $1 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement. The investigation was led by the FBI’s North Shore Gang Task Force. Assistance was provided by Homeland Security Investigations; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Massachusetts State Police; the Essex County Sheriff’s Department; the Massachusetts Parole Board; the New England High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program; and the Derry (N.H.), Haverhill, Lawrence, Methuen and Salisbury Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip C. Cheng, of Rollins’ Organized Crime & Gang Unit is prosecuting the case.