Previously convicted Dominican national convicted for role in distributing fentanyl laced with horse tranquilizer in New York, Massachusetts, Vermont

Boston – A man from the Dominican Republic living in the Bronx, New York, received a federal prison sentence today in Boston for his involvement in running a fentanyl trafficking operation from the Bronx that supplied drugs mixed with xylazine—a sedative used for animals—to areas in Massachusetts, Vermont, and New York.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Justice, Jairo Collazo, 36, was given a 10-year prison term by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns, followed by five years of supervised release. Upon serving his time, Collazo faces deportation. He pleaded guilty in May 2025 to one charge of conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, including at least 400 grams of fentanyl. Collazo was initially charged via complaint in April 2024 and later indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2024.

Collazo, along with associates he referred to as “employees,” managed a fentanyl distribution center in a Bronx basement, shipping the drug to places like Boston, Fitchburg, and Springfield in Massachusetts; Syracuse in New York; and throughout Vermont. They packaged fentanyl into small wax paper envelopes in the basement for sale. Collazo made two trips to Massachusetts in December 2023 and January 2024 to deliver fentanyl to an informant cooperating with authorities. A search of the basement on April 12, 2024, uncovered fentanyl ready for distribution, tools for diluting it with additives, and containers of xylazine, which Collazo used to mix with the fentanyl and offered to the informant. Authorities seized over two kilograms of fentanyl from him.

According to court records, in 2021, Collazo pleaded guilty in New York Supreme Criminal Court to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree (heroin) and was sentenced to two years in state prison. Collazo was deported to the Dominican Republic and returned.

            United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Jarod A. Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Division made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by the Fitchburg Police Department and the Boston Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Samuel R. Feldman of the Narcotics & Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case.