R.I. drug suspects nabbed in Lynn; held on $1M total

LYNN – A Rhode Island man is being held on $750,000 cash bail after he was arrested for cocaine trafficking on Thursday.Jan Velazquez, 30, of Providence, R.I., was arrested and charged with trafficking over 200 grams of cocaine, a Class B substance, possession of drugs in a school zone (Thurgood Marshall) and conspiracy to violate the drug laws. He was arraigned on Friday at Lynn District Court by Judge Stacy Fortes-White and ordered held on $750,000 cash bail with the condition he surrender his passport.Jose Villafane, 32, of Lincoln, R.I. was also arrested and charged with trafficking over 200 grams of cocaine, possession of drugs in a school zone (Thurgood Marshall) and conspiracy to violate the drug laws. He was arraigned on Friday at Lynn District Court by Judge Stacy Fortes-White and ordered held on $250,000 cash bail with the condition he surrender his passport.Both men are being held at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Middleton and have a probably cause hearing at Lynn District Court scheduled on Aug. 12.On July 14, police identified a suspicious 28-pound Express Mail parcel sent to Daniel Jemery at 81 Superior St. from Puerto Rico on July 13. Puerto Rico is a known source area for illegal shipment through the U.S. Postal Service of kilogram quantities of cocaine. The parcel was reviewed by the trained, drug sniffing K-9, Rocky, who alerted the parcel smelled of narcotics.An Essex County Drug Task Force Trooper delivered the package, posing as a letter carrier, and asked the recipient to open the parcel, which contained approximately one pound of cocaine inside a Samsung Home Theater System speaker. The recipient revealed he was receiving the shipment on behalf of Velazquez, who was known to carry a handgun and had threatened family members of the cooperating witness (CW) because of a similar package which had previously been delivered to the address.The CW contacted Velazquez and arranged for him to pick up the package on July 15. Police put the address under surveillance and the resealed parcel was placed on the kitchen floor. At approximately 2:30 p.m., Velazquez arrived in a tan Lincoln Navigator and was accompanied by Villafane and Ruby Hernandez. The CW spoke with Velazquez while Villafane picked up the package, at which point they were both arrested without incident.Hernandez, 31, of Providence, R.I., was arrested on Friday and charged with trafficking a Class B substance, more than 200 grams of cocaine, conspiracy to violate the drug laws and a school zone violation. It was last reported Hernandez was being held at the Lynn Police Department.A total of $897 was seized from Velazquez. A T-Mobile cell phone was seized from him as well. The phone log listed recent calls to Puerto Rico as well as text messages with the tracking number for the Express Mail Parcel.