Chief Terence Delehanty and Chief James Guido report that the joint investigative team of the Winthrop and Revere Police Departments and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department took part in an operation that resulted in two arrests on charges of heroin distribution.
Manuel Vladimir Morell Rodriguez, age 27 and Reynaldo Aponte, age 32, of Boston were arrested and preliminarily charged with:
Trafficking a Class A Substance (Heroin)
Distribution of a Class A Substance (Multiple Counts) (Heroin)
Additional charges are expected against both men.
At 6 a.m. today, the three Suffolk County law enforcement agencies executed search warrants at two addresses in the area of Dudley Square in Boston, resulting in the arrests of Aponte and Rodriguez.
In addition, officers seized approximately of kilo of heroin, cocaine and fentanyl, as well as an estimated $5,000 in cash, multiple cell phones and various packaging materials.
The arrests are the result of an extensive multi-jurisdictional investigation, which identified Aponte and Rodriguez as suspects in an enterprise in which they allegedly distributed heroin in Winthrop and Revere. Through the investigation, the agencies determined that Aponte and Rodriguez were delivering drugs to the two communities using a courier-style system.
“Today’s arrests are an example of the importance of significant regional collaboration, which makes all of our communities safer by limiting the ability of drug dealers to function,” Chief Delehanty said. “Investigations like these improve the quality of life for our residents and have caused a significant amount of deadly drugs, and the dangerous criminals who distribute them, to be removed from our streets.”
The Massachusetts State Police, Boston Police, FBI, DEA and Immigration and Customs Enforcement all played an integral role in the investigation.
“I want to thank all of our law enforcement partners who worked closely to make today’s operation possible,” Chief Guido said. “We all share a strong commitment to keeping our neighborhoods safe, which we accomplish by collaborating on a regular basis to identify and eliminate criminal enterprises like the one these suspects were involved with.”
Aponte and Rodriguez were scheduled to be arraigned in Suffolk District Court.