Other drugs that were confiscated during arrests include 24,066 ecstasy pills, 3,684 Percocets, 553 OxyContin and oxycodone pills, and $20,000 worth of steroids. In addition, 63 guns — including two machine guns — were also seized from dealers last year.
Zani and Essex District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett said the seizure of guns represents an increasingly violent leadership in the top levels of illegal drug distribution.
“Our society is becoming increasingly violent, and there is a reckless disregard for the sanctity of life,’’ Blodgett said in a prepared statement. “I am certain that the seizure of 63 firearms and the arrests of the defendants who possessed them saved lives.’’
Zani, who has worked on the task force for 20 years, said that Lynn and Lawrence have long been major source centers for heroin and other illegal drugs for much of New England. Other major drug distribution centers in New England include Boston, Fitchburg, Holyoke, Springfield, and Central Falls, R.I.
According to Zani, Lynn and Lawrence serve different geographic markets. Lawrence is the main source point for heroin that is sold in New Hampshire and Maine. Lynn serves as a distribution center for southern Essex County users, said Zani.
Zani said heroin is controlled mostly by Mexican cartels. He said the illegal traffickers send the drug two ways: in trucks with secret compartments that make their way over the border and eventually to Lynn and Lawrence, or in “mules,’’ or people who swallow up to 500 grams (coated with wax or wrapped in a condom) before flying from South America to Boston.
“Traditionally, it was a blue-collar drug, but it’s no longer a blue-collar drug,’’ said Zani, who said single doses of heroin are being sold on the street for less than $4. “Everybody uses it now. It cuts across socio-economic lines.’’
