Boston man arrested for distributing Fentanyl | Merrimack Valley

LAWRENCE — A 27-year-old Boston man was arrested Friday morning after surveillance officers saw him take a taxi to the site of a pre-arranged drug deal, Massachusetts State Police said in a statement.

Yasil Delossantos was charged with trafficking and distributing fentanyl. He was also charged with possession of cocaine, officials said.

State police said in the statement the drug surveillance began around 11 a.m. Friday in the Upper Tower Hill neighborhood, where the North Shore Gang Task Force was working.

According to officials, state police troopers and an FBI agent assigned to the task force recovered about 60 grams of suspected fentanyl that Delossantos gave to two customers in a car with Maine license plates.

The task force observed a white Subaru Forester wagon with a Maine registration traveling through the area of Haverhill, Royal, Smith, Middlebury, and Nelson streets. The car made a series of turns and u-turns before parking on Warwick Street.

Delossantos was seen getting out of a taxi, approaching the Subaru on Warwick Street and conducting a hand-to-hand transaction. He was then seen getting back in the taxi and driving away, the statement said.

FBI agents followed the taxi and pulled it over on Haverhill Street, officials said. When the taxi stopped, Delossantos jumped out the car and took off running. Officials said the FBI agent ran after him and apprehended him.

According to the statement, state police stopped the Subaru on Dawes Street and questioned the occupants. The driver of the Subaru was identified as a 55-year-old man, and the passenger was identified as a 38-year-old woman. The pair was not further identified by police.

After being questioned, state police said the woman turned over a condom containing approximately 60 grams of fentanyl wrapped in green plastic. Further investigation found the two had been referred to Delossantos to buy drugs, and Delossantos had given them this first quantity as a free sample of what he sold, state police said.

The two will be summoned to court facing drug charges, according to state police.

Task force officers questioned the taxi driver, who said he had just picked up Delossantos. The driver was determined to have no involvement in the drug transaction, state police said.