Federal investigators said the two unidentified men pictured transported fentanyl inside cereal boxes. (Image via court documents filed by the Drug Enforcement Administration).

Drug enforcement agents said they disrupted a southeastern Massachusetts fentanyl trafficking operation this week, charging 10 Massachusetts and Rhode Island residents with federal narcotics offenses following a 16-month investigation into the group’s activities.

Among other methods of delivery, investigators said the group exchanged fentanyl — the powerful synthetic opioid — in the diaper aisle of a Walmart and delivered drugs inside cereal boxes in the presence of a child.

Ten people accused of being involved in the drug trafficking organization each face a federal count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, United States Attorney Rachael Rollins said Tuesday.

Investigators began probing the operation — believed to be led by Estarlin Ortiz-Alcantara, a 36-year-old Providence, Rhode Island man — in March of 2021.

According to Rollins, the group operated throughout southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island from a base located in a Fall River Home. Intercepted phone communications found the group regularly trafficking multiple kilograms of fentanyl at a time.

Court filings claim drug dealers met with Ortiz-Alcantara or his drug couriers in a variety of public places.

On one occasion, officials said Rebecca Bartholomew, a woman believed to distribute fentanyl in Cape Cod, organized a drug drop with Ortiz-Alcantara in the diaper aisle of a Fall River Walmart

“I’m here,” investigators said Bartholomew texted from the aisle as she prepared to meet one of Ortiz-Alcantara’s couriers. “Go for the Pampers.”

Federal investigators said an unidentified man left a package of fentanyl in the diaper aisle of a Fall River Walmart. The package was quickly retrieved by Rebecca Bartholomew, one of 10 people charged as part of an investigation into a Massachusetts drug trafficking organization, officials said. (Image via court documents filed by the Drug Enforcement Administration).

In another instance, court records said Ortiz-Alcantara and three other associates transported fentanyl between two homes with the drugs contained in cereal boxes. A child accompanied one of the men, officials said.

“I have been involved in numerous investigations where drugs are carried in what appear to be innocuous packaging like the cereal boxes here,” a Drug Enforcement Administration agent wrote in charging documents. “As the photos show, the cereal boxes were not being carried right-side up, which one would expect had they actually contained cereal.”

Four others beyond Ortiz-Alcantara were accused of being members of the drug trafficking organization. They were:

Investigators also said five of those charged were regular customers of Ortiz-Alcantara’s organization who would re-distribute fentanyl in their own local communities. Beyond Bartholomew, the group included:

“The opioid crisis has resulted in far too much harm and far too many deaths,” Rollins said, pledging continued focus from her office and federal investigators “in pursuing those who make a living off pumping poisonous fentanyl into our communities.”

Law enforcement officers seized over 500 grams of fentanyl during the investigation through drug seizures and controlled purchases. On Tuesday, police seized nearly 15 kilograms of suspected fentanyl while arresting the people accused of trafficking.

“Opioid abuse is at epidemic levels in New England,” said Brian Boyle, the DEA’s special agent in charge in New England. “Illegal drug distribution ravages the very foundations of our families and communities here in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Let these arrests serve as an example to those who distribute poisons like fentanyl.”

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