LYNN — Lynn police, state troopers, and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents recovered a combined total of 502 grams of fentanyl, 91 grams of cocaine, and around $2,000 in cash early Thursday morning while they executed two separate search warrants on Barrett Street and Washington Street.
At approximately 6:20 a.m. on Thursday, officers arrived at the home of Hector Gomez-Bello, 31, at 33 Barrett St. to execute a search warrant. Upon searching Gomez-Bello’s home, police found 455 grams of fentanyl and 58 grams of cocaine, and placed him under arrest for numerous drug trafficking charges.
Around two hours later, officers executed a separate search warrant at the home of Leury Soto, 23, at 501 Washington St. There, police found 47 grams of fentanyl, 33 grams of cocaine and $2,015 in cash. They arrested Soto at 8:34 a.m.
Lt. Robert Avery of Lynn Police Department’s Drug Task Force said that the quantity of fentanyl found in Gomez-Bello’s possession was much larger than the quantities typically found at the street level.
“Four hundred grams is a significant amount for street-level sales in the city,” Avery said.
Avery added that law enforcement officers are especially focused on tackling opioids because of their lethal potency. He said that depending on the drug’s purity and the user’s tolerance, the lethal dose for fentanyl can be as small as less than a gram.
“Obviously, our focus is on the opioids because it’s killing so many people in the city and around the area,” Avery said. “Cocaine is definitely going hand-in-hand with it as kind of an enhancement to the fentanyl, but it doesn’t have the lethality of fentanyl.”
Lt. Michael Kmiec, of Lynn Police, thanked their partners in the DEA and the Massachusetts State Police for their work toward taking as much fentanyl as possible off the streets. Avery echoed Kmiec’s remarks, adding that Lynn PD remains committed to helping those struggling with opiate addiction.
“The detectives in my unit work hard every day trying to identify fentanyl drug dealing sources. It’s our main priority and that’s what we work for every day is trying to rid the streets of the dealers and trying to get people help when they need help,” Avery said.
