Widespread Drug Distribution Sweep: Dozens Arrested in 'Operation Wolfgang'

BOSTON, MA — A sweeping, year-long wiretap investigation led to the arrest of dozens involved in what the Suffolk County District Attorney called a "violent drug trafficking operation" of "kilo-weight suppliers" who dealt heroin and fentanyl by the pound in and around Boston.

The investigation, dubbed "Operation Wolfgang," targeted Boston's Mozart Street Gang, named after a street in Jamaica Plain. FBI Boston's Hank Shaw described the group as controlling a drug trafficking network in Boston that extended to Braintree, Quincy, Randolph, Weymouth and Brockton. It involved drug traffickers from the Dominican Republic and from Mexico, according to the FBI.

Twenty-seven arrests were made in Boston, Malden, Dedham, Quincy, Brockton and elsewhere Thursday morning, Shaw said. In addition, another 14 had previously been arrested in connection to the case, he said. In total, 300 local, state, and federal law enforcement were involved in the series of early-morning arrests.

MORE: 'Wolfgang' Drug, Gun Bust Began With Roslindale Man

RELATED: 20 Nabbed in Heroin, Fentanyl Trafficking Ring

As of 6:30 p.m., officials say ten people affiliated with the operation are still being sought. Shaw, of the FBI, said those individuals are assumed to be armed and dangerous, and many are presumed to still be in the area.

Those who were arrested were arraigned in Boston Municipal Court Thursday afternoon.

DA Dan Conley is calling the case the biggest and most successful wiretap operation in Suffolk County History, with 17 separate phones tracked over the course of a year.

During Thursday's sweep, officials recovered 10 firearms, around $80,000 in cash, 5.5 kilos of heroin and what the district attorney referred to as a "large quantity" of fentanyl, the deadly opioid increasingly responsible for Massachusetts' rising number of opioid overdose deaths.

"Make no mistake: taking these guns and drugs off the streets will save lives here," Conley said.

Patch will update this developing story.

Image via Boston FBI