News

May 18, 2023

District of New Hampshire

CONCORD – 21 defendants have been indicted and an additional defendant has been

CONCORD – 21 defendants have been indicted and an additional defendant has been charged in connection with an organized drug trafficking ring operating out of Manchester and Boston, U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young announces.

Over the past day and a half, law enforcement arrested 12 of these defendants on conspiracy to distribute controlled substance charges. During these arrests, law enforcement seized approximately 1.6 kilograms of suspected cocaine, 150 grams of suspected cocaine case, 250 grams of suspected fentanyl, 100 bags of suspected controlled substances packaged for sale, $26,000 in cash, and four firearms. The defendants are scheduled to appear in federal court at various times this week.

The following defendants have been charged in federal court:

According to court records, this drug trafficking ring, led by Juan Ramon Soto Baez (also known by various aliases, including "Ricky") and his associates, has allegedly been supplying the Manchester area with fentanyl and crack cocaine for at least the past 4 years. These individuals trafficked large quantities of fentanyl and crack cocaine from Massachusetts to New Hampshire. They utilized a business model indicative of a sophisticated drug trafficking operation, which included using dispatch telephone numbers that customers would call to order drugs. Drug runners would drive vehicles to meet customers at predetermined locations to sell them drugs, often inside the runners’ vehicles.

The charge provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Manchester Police Department led the investigation. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Marshal Service, the New Hampshire State Police, the Nashua Police Department, the Boston Police Department, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, and the New Hampshire Department of Corrections, Probation & Parole. Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Gingrande and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jarad Hodes, OCDETF Coordinator, are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

###