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U.S. Attorney Vanessa Avery and DEA Special Agent David Lanzoni: This was the "largest seizure of fake pills we've seen in New England."
A garage-turned-“lab” equipped with 2,000-pound pill-pressing machines churned out two million synthetic opioid pills containing ingredients more potent than even fentanyl — and now sits at the center of Connecticut’s largest ever clandestine drug manufacturing bust.
The news of that drug operation and seven related arrests was announced at a Monday morning press conference held by the U.S. Attorney’s office. The presser was held in an office on the 25th floor of 157 Church St.
Law enforcement officials on Monday described a complex system led by a 45-year-old New Havener, where counterfeit pills produced in that East Haven garage were sold as oxycodone, Xanax, and Adderall but contained methamphetamine, protonitazene, dimethylpentylone, xylazine, and other substances. (Protonitazene is a synthetic opioid three times as potent as fentanyl.)
With the help of six others based in greater New Haven, that 45-year-old city resident distributed those pills across Connecticut and the country by using U.S. Mail to ship orders received on the “dark web.” He and four others were arrested on Sept. 5, and two others were arrested on Sept. 19 after they continued selling drugs.
The lead arrestee has been charged with Conspiracy to Manufacture, Distribute, and Possess with the Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances, including 50 Grams or More of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine.
Speakers at Monday’s presser included U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)‘s Asst. Special Agent in Charge David Lanzoni, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Inspector in Charge Ketty Larco-Ward, and Asst. U.S. Attorney and lead prosecutor Lauren Clark.
“These pills were being produced right here in Connecticut,” said Lanzoni. “That to me is a much scarier thought than stuff coming over the border.”
Drugs are also getting distributed in ways that haven’t been seen before, according to Lanzoni. “If you have access to a smartphone, and/or applications on said smartphones, you now can be reached by drug dealers.”
The U.S. Attorney’s office is also investigating a Connecticut overdose death that officials believe may have involved the lead arrestee’s pills.
Lanzoni said that this was the “largest seizure of fake pills we’ve seen in New England.”
According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in early September by Task Force Officer Andrew Pfeiffer, the investigation began in summer 2023 when an informant notified the DEA’s New Haven District Office’s Tactical Diversion Squad (NHDO-TDS) of the lead arrestee’s fake pill press operation, and the fact that he was shipping narcotics in the mail.
Thus launched an investigation that entailed seizing and searching the 45-year-old New Havener’s parcels, electronic and physical surveillance of the main locations (his East Haven garage lab and his Hill home) and associates involved, undercover purchases of pills, and trash pulls.
Investigators concluded that the operation involved purchasing the ingredients for drugs and pill press parts from “China and elsewhere,” using pill presses to make counterfeit pills, conducting sales on the dark web, and mailing pills to customers as well as distributing them to associates across Connecticut to sell.
Between February 2023 and February 2024, officials estimate that the lead arrestee sent more than 1,300 packages. On those packages, he often listed his return address as that of two seemingly legitimate New Haven businesses, whose owners have denied any involvement in the drug operation.
The Sept. 5 arrest of the 45-year-old New Havener and searches of relevant locations included the seizure of hundreds of thousands of fake pills, two large pill presses (one of which is capable of producing 100,000 pills per hour), and pill manufacturing equipment.
Due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, officials declined to answer questions about the possibly related overdose death, about the arrestee’s relationship to the businesses he listed as return addresses on his parcels, or about his history and relationship to the New Haven community.
The 45-year-old arrestee’s LinkedIn profile lists work experience as an electrician, a clothing business owner, and a self-employed sales advocate.
Courtesy of U.S. Attorney's office
Some of the pills seized on Sept. 5 in East Haven.