Tiverton Drug Ringleader Indicted for Cocaine and Heroin Enterprise

TIVERTON, RI—Federal agents have been busy combing through the Fall River used car business, three houses and multiple cars owned by 43-year-old Luis Lopez, also known as Juan Gonzalez of Tiverton, since his arrest for allegedly running a major drug trafficking enterprise in Bristol County.

Lopez, according to a federal grand jury indictment, bought and sold large amounts of cocaine, heroin and fentanyl and laundered drug money out of his Hillside Auto Sales business as the head of a drug trafficking organization that imported hundreds of kilos of drugs from Puerto Rico to New Bedford and Fall River.

Lopez was charged June 30 in a criminal complaint with four other men and one woman from southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island after a federal investigation that intercepted packages of cocaine sent through the mail bound for Lopez.

Lopez was charged in U.S. District Court in Boston and is now being held in federal custody awaiting arraignment next week along with several co-conspirators and others nabbed in a separate, but related, investigation.

According to court documents, Lopez coordinated shipments of cocaine through the U.S. Mail with the help of Chindy Diaz, 38, of New Bedford, who received the shipments and delivered them to Lopez before he sold to other drug dealers. Authorities said Israel Santiago, also known as "Reysito," 39, of Fall River, also helped deliver the shipments and both he and Diaz are facing charges of conspiracy and possession with the intent to distribute cocaine.

Among the drug dealers connected to Lopez were Tyson Britto, also known as "Peanut," 31, of Fall River, and Nuno "Farigno" Fonseca, 37, of Fall River. Both are facing charges of conspiracy to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine and conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl. Britton is in federal custody; Fonseca is currently a fugitive from justice.

Lopez if facing charges of conspiracy to distribute and possess five kilograms or more of cocaine, heroin and fentanyl; conspiracy to launder monetary instruments through Hillside Auto Sales and possession with the intent to distribute a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl and actylfentanyl.

The indictment also seeks the forfeiture of his three houses, car business, cars, motorcycles and $15,000 cash.

In a related investigation, federal agents learned that Sharik Mendes, owner of the HEART gym in New Bedford, was receiving heroin from at least two large suppliers based in Providence and employed Tyson Depina, 40, of New Bedford, to sell the drug on his behalf.

In that investigation, agents intercepted phone calls that "showed that Depina was consistently selling heroin to users and lower-level dealers, and that he was providing Mendes with $1,000 to $2,000 a day for this heroin."

Depina was arrested in April and and is currently in federal custody on charges of conspiracy and possession.

Another man, Eric Desousa, 22, of New Bedford, also supplied Depina with heroin, according to court documents. Desousa allegedly was distributing on behalf of another, higher-level drug dealer. He was arrested in June with 30 grams of heroin in his pockets and a raid of his residence turned up another 300 grams.

Mendes is free on bail awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to assorted charges.

According to the attorney's office, the charges carry the following maximum penalties (Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties

1. Conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute heroin:
   1. 100 grams or more: a minimum of five years and no greater than 40 years in prison, a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $5 million.(Applicable to Depina).
   2. A quantity of heroin: no greater than 20 years in prison, a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $1 million.(Applicable to Lopez, Britto, Fonseca and Desousa).
2. Conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine:
   1. Five kilograms or more: a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison, a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $10 million. (Applicable to Lopez, Diaz, and Sanchez-Lopez).
   2. 500 grams or more: a minimum of five years and no greater than 40 years in prison, a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $5 million.(Applicable to Fonseca and Britto).
   3. A quantity of cocaine: no greater than 20 years in prison, a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $1 million.(Applicable to Santiago).
3. Possession of cocaine, heroin, acetylfentanyl, and fentanyl with the intent to distribute: no greater than 20 years in prison, a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $1 million.(Applicable to Desousa, Depina, Lopez, and Britto).
4. Conspiracy to launder monetary instruments: no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.(Applicable to Lopez).

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn; Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; Joel P. Garland, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; Shelly Binkowski, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Fall River Police Chief John M. Souza; New Bedford Police Chief Joseph C. Cordeiro; Fairhaven Police Chief Michael Myers; and Bristol County Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson, made the announcement today.

The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Rosen of Ortiz’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit.