Law enforcement officials near Boston, Massachusetts. arrested two Dominican nationals in connection with the seizure of over 70 pounds (32 kilograms) of fentanyl. The drugs have an alleged street value of $28.8 million dollars.

Earlier this week, according to a media release from the U.S. Attorneys, District of Massachusetts, law enforcement officers in the Boston area discovered 70 pounds of the potentially deadly drug Police also recovered a firearm and $20,000 in cash.

Prosecutors charged Angel Javier Morell-Oneill, 33, a Dominican national residing in Methuen, with one count of possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. Jose A. Rodriguez, 41, also faces one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute fentanyl. The town of Methuen is approximately 28 miles north of Boston.

According to the charging documents, law enforcement officials began investigating Morell-Oneill in June 2018. The investigation culminated with a traffic stop on Pleasant Valley Street in Methuen on Oct. 22, 2018, during which officers seized two kilos of fentanyl from the front passenger seat of the vehicle Morell-Oneill was driving.

After seizing the drugs, law enforcement officials executed a search warrant at Morell-Oneill’s residence in Methuen where they allegedly seized approximately 30 kilos of fentanyl, drug distribution paraphernalia, and a loaded firearm. While serving the search warrant, Rodriguez was arrested when he arrived at Morell-Oneill’s residence to deliver $20,000. Prosecutors say the money was to be used to pay for half of the transportation costs of a narcotics shipment recently delivered to Morell-Oneill. Officials seized the money from a hidden compartment in a car allegedly driven by Rodriguez.

Rodriguez faces a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, a mandatory minimum of three years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $1 million. Morell-Oneill faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison, a mandatory minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $10 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the United States Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; and Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, made the announcement on October 26. Officials say valuable assistance was provided by the Somerville, Medford, Boston, Ipswich, and Arlington Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Ferguson of Lelling’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit is prosecuting the case.

Robert Arce is a retired Phoenix Police detective with extensive experience working Mexican organized crime and street gangs. Arce has worked in the Balkans, Iraq, Haiti, and recently completed a three-year assignment in Monterrey, Mexico, working out of the Consulate for the United States Department of State, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Program, where he was the Regional Program Manager for Northeast Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Durango, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas.) You can follow him on Twitter. He can be reached at robertrarce@gmail.com