A former Methuen man has pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to his role in a Lawrence-based drug trafficking operation involving fentanyl and cocaine.
Fifty-seven-year-old Pablo Rosario Pablo, also known by the names Angel Ayala Roque and “Cuco,” pleaded guilty last week to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, cocaine and other drugs and possession with intent to distribute cocaine and other drugs. U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley scheduled sentencing for Feb. 8, 2023.
According to court documents and information presented in court, police began investigating a Lawrence-based drug group during May 2020. Between December 2020 and December 2021, intercepted communications between group members and their associates revealed they allegedly distributed fentanyl and cocaine in and around the Merrimack Valley. During a search of Rosario Pablo’s residence last Dec. 15, agents seized fentanyl, powder cocaine, crack cocaine, marijuana and steroids, as well as drug paraphernalia.
The police operation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Strike Force Initiative.