The raids followed “an extensive investigation conducted over the last several months” with cooperation between several law enforcement agencies, Gulluni’s office said in a separate statement.

Six kilograms of unmilled heroin, 4,500 ready-for-sale bags of heroin, six guns, and four vehicles were also seized Monday morning.

Ten people were arrested and an estimated $1.35 million of raw heroin was recovered Monday in Springfield, in a takedown of “the preeminent drug distribution organization in the region,” Hampden County District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni said at a Tuesday press conference.

The raids were carried out by the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the State Police, the Springfield police, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, and the Internal Revenue Service.


“I would like to thank the dedicated and professional members of law enforcement who participated in this investigation,” Gulluni said in the statement released Tuesday. “This was a high-level and sophisticated operation that was supplying this area with heroin. The streets and neighborhoods here in Hampden County are appreciably safer today with these individuals in custody.”

Around 6:30 a.m. Monday, authorities executed four search warrants at residences throughout the city, six separate search warrants of vehicles, and one arrest warrant.

One of the “primary targets” in the operation was a home at 57-59 Sterling St., where authorities recovered 1.5 ounces of uncut heroin, four shotguns, two loaded handguns, and “multiple baggies, grinders and packaging materials consistent with a small mill” in the raid, Gulluni’s office said. Heroin mill workers were also found through the investigation to have been housed there.

The trafficking operation’s main heroin mill, located at 73 Cherrelyn St., was raided around the same time. More than six kilograms of raw heroin with a “conservative value” of $1.35 million when packaged for retail were recovered, along with 4,500 wax baggies of heroin packaged for distribution and a “mill set-up including packaging, cutting agents, baggies, stamps and grinders that could accommodate 6-8 mill workers,” the district attorney’s office said.


The raw opiate found there was estimated to yield more than 450,000 bags for distribution, and “could have been upwards of a million bags of heroin if cut in certain ways,” Gulluni said at a press conference Tuessday afternoon.

“To say that the defendants and the locations we targeted were a large factor in the heroin trade in greater Springfield is an understatement,” State Police Colonel Richard D. McKeon said at the press conference. “These were significant players who ran a significant distribution network in this area. What the investigators and task force members dismantled was a high level, highly organized operation of workers who packaged heroin for distribution.”

Officials said the raids were conducted to combat the ongoing opioid crisis in the state.

“Those suffering from the disease of opioid addiction need access to treatment and recovery,” DEA New England Field Division Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Ferguson said in the statement. “But those responsible for distributing lethal drugs like heroin and fentanyl to the citizens of Massachusetts need to be held accountable for their actions. ”

Three people were arrested at the Sterling Street residence: Astrun Pujols, 27, of New York City, N.Y., Josue Pujols, 30, of Fresh Meadows, N.Y., and Miguel Sanchez-Brito, 24, of Springfield. Officials said the residence was Josue Pujols’ home.

Sanchez and Astrun Pujols were each charged with possession of a firearm without a license, and Josue Pujols was charged with three counts of possession of a firearm without a license, and trafficking heroin 18-36 grams.


Six people were arrested at the Cherrelyn Street residence and charged with trafficking in heroin over 200 grams: Elvis Pujols, 27, of Springfield, Harlem Ciprian, 22, of Springfield, Yankey Ciprian, 19, of Queens, N.Y., Edward Ciprian, 23, of Queens, N.Y., Franky Mosquea, 22, of Queens, N.Y., and Richard Ciprian, 20, of Bronx, N.Y.

The main target of the Monday operation, Fausto Pujols, 28, of Springfield, was arrested at an unrelated location by the Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section. An arrest warrant for Fausto Pujols for conspiracy to violate drug laws and heroin distribution in the city of Springfield had already been issued, and he was believed to have coordinated the Cherrelyn Street mill. Pujols was charged with trafficking in heroin over 200 grams.

All 10 suspects were arraigned in Springfield District Court and remain in custody. Bails were set at $1,000 for Astrun Pujols and Sanchez-Brito; $50,000 for Josue Pujols; $75,000 for Harlem, Yankey, Edward, and Richard Ciprian and Mosquea; $100,000 for Elvis Pujols; and $250,000 for Fausto Pujols.

The heroin recovered in the operation was set to be sent for DEA lab analysis Wednesday to determine its grade and whether it contained fentanyl, Ferguson saidb at Tuesday’s press conference.

Gulluni’s office said the investigation is ongoing.

Ben Thompson can be reached at ben.thompson@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @Globe_Thompson