Attorney General leads major drug bust in Lynn

LYNN — A 38-year-old Lynn man has been arrested on trafficking charges after investigators seized 634 grams of fentanyl and 150 grams of crack cocaine from his apartment, Attorney General Maura Healey announced on Tuesday.

Ricardo Sanchez was charged with trafficking 200-plus grams of fentanyl and trafficking 100-plus grams of cocaine. He was ordered held without bail following his arraignment at Lynn District Court, the Attorney General’s office said. 

The charges against Sanchez resulted from an investigation conducted by Healey’s New England Fentanyl Strike Force, Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Attorney General’s office, and the State Police Narcotics Section. Assistance was provided by the Lynn Police Department’s Drug Task Force, the AG’s office said. 

Authorities executed a search warrant at Sanchez’s Lynn apartment last Thursday morning, and seized 634 grams of fentanyl, 150 grams of crack cocaine, $5,908 in cash, two digital scales, one drug ledger, several bottles of cutting agent, and other drug paraphernalia, the AG’s office said. 

The AG’s New England Fentanyl Strike Force was created in 2016, using a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services Task Force. Since its launch, the Strike Force has seized more than 400 kilograms of heroin and fentanyl, including tens of thousands of opioid pills. The Strike Force has also seized millions of dollars in cash and arrested more than 530 suspects, the AG’s office said.