Santo Domingo.- On January 6, 2023, Kelvin Regalado, a Dominican man, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Boston to conspiring to traffic heroin and fentanyl from the Dominican Republic to various states along the US East Coast. Regalado, 42 years old, faced charges of conspiracy to possess and distribute significant quantities of heroin, fentanyl, carfentanil, and ketamine. He was accused in December 2020, along with co-defendant Marcos Cabrera, while residing in the Dominican Republic.
After being detained by Dominican authorities, Regalado was extradited to the US in May 2022. On May 10, 2023, United States District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton sentenced him to seven years in prison. The investigation revealed that from August 2019 to March 2020, Regalado conspired with Cabrera to deliver heroin, carfentanil, fentanyl, and ketamine to cooperating witnesses in New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. Regalado also arranged for the shipment of fentanyl and ketamine by mail to the cooperating witnesses in Massachusetts.
In a separate incident on March 29, 2023, nine individuals, including four members of a Dominican family, were arrested in New York for their involvement in a drug trafficking ring. The ring was involved in the sale of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine, including pills shaped like Donald Trump, Mickey Mouse, bitcoin, and Legos. The arrest was made by the DEA, and DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank Tarantino III provided details about the operation.