News Release [print-friendly page]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 21, 2006

THIRTEEN CHARGED IN NORTH SHORE COCAINE CONSPIRACY
Tractor Trailers used to Smuggle Cocaine into Massachusetts

SEP 21--Boston, MA... Thirteen individuals have been named in an Indictment unsealed late yesterday with operating a cocaine distribution conspiracy in and around Lynn, Revere and Dorchester. A three-month wiretap investigation resulted in the seizure of a total of approximately 150 kilograms of cocaine that had been transported to Massachusetts - in at least two instances by tractor trailer.

June W. Stansbury, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in New England, and United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan announced today that a federal Grand Jury returned an Indictment charging thirteen individuals with participating in a conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine. Eleven of the defendants are also charged with at least one additional count of possession with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine.

“Residents of the North Shore should not have to live with drug dealers operating in their communities - brazenly conducting their drug deals in mall parking lots and truck stops,” stated U.S. Attorney Sullivan. “Individuals, whether they live in the suburbs or in the heart of the City, should be able to walk their streets and go about their daily activities without fear or exposure to drug activity and potential related violence. We will continue to work closely with our federal, state and local partners to enhance the quality of life in neighborhoods throughout Massachusetts.”

According to the Indictment and documents previously filed with the Court, from approximately mid-May 2006 through August 2006, agents conducted a court-authorized wiretap investigation of a cocaine distribution ring operating in and around Lynn, Revere and Dorchester. The wiretaps captured conversations of the defendants allegedly arranging for meetings to pick up, distribute and pay for wholesale quantities of cocaine that were being shipped into Massachusetts from other parts of the country including New Jersey and Texas. As a result of the investigation, investigators were able to intercept three separate deliveries of cocaine after they had been received by various of the defendants in Massachusetts. The largest single
delivery, 123 kilograms of cocaine, was seized by investigators on August 14, 2006, in Lynn.

“Transporting cocaine by tractor trailer, van, car or on foot leads to only one destination, prison,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Stansbury. “We will not allow traffickers to turn our interstates into cocaine highways. As this case demonstrates it’s a dead end.”

All of the defendants were arrested on complaints in August except for two. DANIEL MUESES was arrested yesterday in New Jersey. The last defendant, JOSEPH OVALLE is believed to be in the Dominican Republic and is considered a fugitive at this time. If convicted, each of the defendants faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison up to a maximum of life.

Named in the Indictment are:

1. DARIO DE LOS SANTO-PASCAL, a/k/a "Felipe Acevedo", age 31, 58 Florence Ave., Revere, MA;

2. BERTHA VALENCIA, age 43, of 341 Beach St., Revere, MA;

3. JOSE VALENCIA, age 25, of 536 Beach St., Revere, MA;

4. JUAN ESTRADA, age 26, of 123 Radcliff St., Dorchester, MA;

5. YOKASTA DEJADA, age 26, of 123 Radcliff St., Dorchester, MA;

6. ORLANDO MALDONADO, age 29, of 360 Upham St., Melrose, MA ;

7. ALFREDO SALINAS, age 41, of Texas;

8. CALLENTANO LONGORIA, age 33, of Texas;

9. JOSEPH VALERI, age 25, of 75 Newton St., Fitchburg, MA;

10. MIGUEL LUGO, age 24, of Tijuana, Mexico;

11. NICHOLAS LUGO, age 38, of Tijuana, Mexico;

12. JOSEPH OVALLE, age 33, of 101 Prospect Ave., Hackensack, NJ; and

13. DANIEL MUESES, age 30, of 47 Prospect Ave., Hackensack, NJ.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in New England, Boston Police Department's Bureau of Investigative Services, the Massachusetts State Police, the Essex County District Attorney Blodgett's Office, Massachusetts Attorney General Reilly's Drug Task Force, the Revere, Lynn and Everett Police Departments, and the U.S. Marshals Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sharron Kearney in Sullivan’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Unit.

The details contained in the Indictment are allegations. The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.