State Police Bust Suspects Believed to Be Trafficking Drugs From Mexico

Massachusetts State Police confiscated $1 million worth of drugs and arrested three suspects who were staying at a Route 1 hotel in Peabody.

State Police believe the men have ties to a drug trafficking network based in Mexico.

Police seized five kilograms of heroin and two kilograms of crystal methamphetamine that are valued for $1 million.

State Police troopers in the drug task force and a Drug Enforcement Administration task force found out that the men were staying in the Route 1 hotel in Peabody and surveillance teams saw two of the men leave the hotel with a large duffel bag and drive away on Thursday.

State Police stopped the car on Route 1 in Saugus and found four kilograms of heroin in the duffel bag. They arrested the two men and then found the third suspect a short time later driving a separate car. He was also arrested, said State Police.

Troopers and DEA agents executed a search warrant on the hotel room and found an additional kilogram of heroin and two kilograms of meth.

State Police said the men are believed to be associated with a network in Mexico that distributes “large amounts of heroin and meth to Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire.”

The men, Juan E. Nunez, 37, of New York City, Jose Morales, 43, of Haverstraw, NY, and Alfred D. Lopez, 33, of Van Nuys, CA, were charged with trafficking in narcotics and conspiracy to violate the Controlled Drug Act.