Gang Task Force charges man with trafficking in fentanyl in Lawrence

LAWRENCE — Police arrested a 39-year-old man for trafficking in fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is at least 50 times more potent than morphine, and other crimes as a result of a drug dealing investigation.

Hector Rivera was arrested on Monday on the trafficking charge, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and a default warrant from Dorchester District Court, after Massachusetts State Police troopers found him armed with a knife and hiding in a bedroom.

Lawrence police, troopers and federal agents working together as part of the North Shore Regional Gang Task Force learned Rivera was in an apartment on 237 Jackson St. and went there to speak to him about the investigation, police said.

The resident permitted agents to enter the apartment, saying Rivera was not wanted there. Troopers then found Rivera in a bedroom, hiding his right hand behind a door, police said.

State Police arrest Vermont residents in Bernardston for trafficking in cocaine, fentanyl and on gun charges

Steven Hull, 50, and Jennifer Sasso, 51, face a variety of gun and drug charges after the Saturday morning arrest.

“Concerned for their safety, the troopers and agents…took measures to secure the suspect through the threshold of the door and detained him after a brief struggle. Afterward they discovered a large sheathed kitchen knife on the floor behind the door,” police said in writing.

Officers searched Rivera and found baggies containing fentanyl and cocaine in pockets of his pants, his sweatshirt and in a sock, police said.

While Rivera was being taken into custody he told another person in the apartment to “take care of my stuff for me” in Spanish, which was overheard by a Lawrence officer who is bilingual. Based on that statement and other information, police applied for and received a search warrant for the bedroom, police said.

In total law enforcement agents found about 311 grams of fentanyl during the search of Rivera and the bedroom. They also found at least half a gram of what is believed to be cocaine, a package of an unknown brown substance, $604 in cash, cell phones and a machete, police said.