Feds Make Historic Drug Bust in Mass.

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Facts

  • Law enforcement seized over 220 pounds of illegal substances worth an estimated $8M in street value in Massachusetts in the biggest-ever drug bust in New England.1
  • On Wednesday, federal investigators raided a home in the North Shore area of Mass. in connection with an ongoing overdose death investigation and seized over 100 kilos of controlled substances, half a kilo of cocaine base, and several guns. Investigators say that several children were living in the home where the lethal substances were being stored.2
  • According to court documents, the controlled substances included 900K individual doses of powdered fentanyl and 20 pounds of pink, heart-shaped pills that reportedly are comprised of fentanyl and methamphetamine.3
  • The drugs were seized the same day that Emilio Garcia, Sebastien Bejin, and Deiby Felix from Lynn, Mass. were arrested. The suspects were reportedly the subject of a three-month-long investigation into an overdose death in Salem, Mass. in July 2023, and were allegedly involved in a drug trafficking ring.1
  • Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division, Jodi Cohen, said in a statement on Monday that she was announcing the arrest of three alleged drug traffickers whose actions have 'kept the Bay State awash in dangerous and deadly narcotics.'1
  • More than 82K Americans died from fentanyl overdoses in 2022, with the DEA saying that the number has increased every year for the last five years. Since the start of 2023, law enforcement agencies have seized more than 55M fentanyl pills and more than 9K pounds of fentanyl powder.3

Sources: 1WHDH 7News, 2Boston 25 News and 3CBS.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by United States Department of Justice. This raid is a law enforcement victory. The suspects involved in this investigation had provided lethal drugs like fentanyl to the community unchecked for a ridiculous amount of time, leading to at least one death. It's time that these criminals are held accountable for drug trafficking and they should be punished to the full extent of the law.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Independent. While it's good that these individual drug traffickers were taken off the street, the reality is that someone else will likely fill their places in a dangerous market. The fact that some of the seized drugs were made to look like candy increases the risk to children and emphasizes the importance of stopping drug trafficking as an entire complex system.