AJ Buy & Sell

AJ Buy & Sell at 895 Carew St. in Springfield was one of the sites raided as federal agents broke up a heroin trafficking operation, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Springfield.

(Stephanie Barry / The Republican)

SPRINGFIELD -- Members of a DEA joint task force broke up a Dominican Republic-to-Western Massachusetts heroin trafficking ring with 14 arrests on Friday morning and large drug seizures from three separate sites across the city.

Agents began tracking the "Alberto Marte Drug Trafficking Organization" in early January, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court.

Marte, of 75 Tyler St. in Springfield, is the lead defendant in the case. Court records say he was responsible for peddling the particularly lethal batch of "Hollywood" heroin that claimed the lives of eight local residents in December and January.

The spate of overdose deaths prompted law enforcement agencies everywhere to publicly warn heroin addicts to stay away from the label. The sworn statement filed late Thursday by DEA Agent John Barron noted the deadly effects of the batch across the region.

A police photo of a batch of heroin seized in January 2016. Federal agents on Friday arrested a number of men in connection with what they say is a "heroin mill" that put bags of the drug labeled "Hollywood" on the streets.

"Our investigation has also shown that Marte is responsible for distributing heroin labeled with a 'Hollywood' stamp. This brand of heroin has been connected to numerous fatal overdoses in the New England area that occurred in late 2015 and early 2016," the affidavit reads.

The statement says Marte had drug connections in New York and the Dominican Republic, where additional raids took place this morning.

Records show agents followed various members of the operation around Springfield and other local communities, tapped their phones, and sifted through garbage bags the suspects tossed in dumpsters behind a mobile phone store and the Holyoke Mall in June.

"I then met with (other investigators) in a side lot of the mall and opened the trash bag retrieved from the Dumpster. We immediately observed a very large quantity of materials, which, based on our training and experience, we knew to be heroin packaging materials," the affidavit states.

Inside several trash bags, investigators found glassine baggies labeled "Donald Trump," plastic bags filled with heroin residue, hundreds of elastics, drug ledgers and packaging materials, according to the statement.

Barron states Marte had a "stash/mill house" at 152 Lebanon St. in Springfield.

A home at 152 Lebanon St. in Springfield was being used by a heroin distribution ring as a "stash/mill house," according to investigators. Federal agents made over a dozen arrests Friday in connection with the alleged drug operation, which had ties to the Dominican Republic, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court.

According to his affidavit, Connecticut State Police seized $50,000 from a plastic bag delivered from Marte's residence to one of his runners on June 9. Another member of the Marte organization, Carlos Rivera, was specifically used as quality control for specific batches of heroin, Barron says.

"Rivera is known to test Marte's heroin for him upon Marte's receipt of a shipment," the statement reads. "Typically Rivera rates it at a number, between one and 10 ... Marte then typically reports Rivera's findings back to his sources of supply, and depending on the reported quality of the heroin, keeps the heroin for distribution or returns it to his sources of supply."

Another member of the heroin ring was Julian "Gordo" Declet, who facilitated narcotics transactions out of "AJ Buy & Sell," a glorified pawn shop at 895 Carew St., according to investigators.

In addition to Marte, Rivera and Declet, arrested Friday morning were Marcos Pena, William Brantley, Jovanni Rodriguez, Diolfi Antonio Marte Vasquez, Jose Miguel Ramos, Anthony Patino, Mirelvy Vasquez, Pablo Rosario, Anyuly Tavarez and Eduardo Fernandez. They all were charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin.

Agents recovered at least three kilos of heroin from an SUV parked in Marte's driveway, and found Fernandez at 152 Lebanon St. nearby a "large amount of heroin" in various stages of packaging for "retail distribution," court records state.

"Agents observed that the apparent sole purpose of the 152 Lebanon St. (property) was that of a heroin mill as it contained virtually no furnishings other than several cots in the living area," the affidavit states. "Agents also observed several hidden locations which were used to secret heroin."

Federal prosecutors are seeking to detain all the defendants pending trial. All 14 will be detained over the weekend but were granted detention hearings next week.

Springfield police in early January seized 9,000 bags of heroin bearing the "Hollywood" stamp and arrested four men on trafficking and distribution charges.

The suspects in the January arrests were charged in Springfield District Court.