A Lynn man has been put behind bars for his part in pushing over 7,000 fakes on the streets, loaded with deadly fentanyl. Erick Solis Lopez, 25, learned his fate in Boston federal court, receiving a 62-month sentence, which will transition into three years of watching eyes once he's out, the U.S. Attorney's Office reported.
Lopez, caught up in a North Shore drug operation's net, had already pleaded guilty last October after getting collared in a roundup of 23 suspects. It turns out this bunch was allegedly churning out bogus oxycodone and Adderall pills, slipping in fentanyl and methamphetamine instead, as detailed in court documents. Lopez's personal contribution to this pharmaceutical fraud? No less than 7,300 counterfeit oxycodone tablets, and, a regular delivery service of various controlled substances, including fentanyl in both pill and powder form, crack cocaine, and marijuana for the DTO, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The feds laid it all out: Solis wasn't just dropping off these pills on corners; they were stashed in a hidden compartment in a vehicle registered to him, complete with a fraudulent driver’s license with Solis’s picture. This heavy crackdown on the drug ring comes via the teamwork of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Massachusetts State Police, and local law enforcement from Beverly to Swampscott.
Justice was served up by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, known for taking down the big fish in the drug trade pond. And while Solis has been slapped with a sentence, other players in this case are still up at bat, presumably innocent till proven guilty.
