A 35-year-old Haverhill man has pleaded guilty to distributing tens of thousands of pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine.
Angel Joel Diaz, also known as “Guero,” pleaded guilty to distribution of and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, two counts of distribution of and possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and methadone. U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns scheduled sentencing for July 10. Diaz was indicted by a federal grand jury in April 2023.
According to court documents, an investigation began in January 2023 into Diaz’s fentanyl pill manufacturing and distribution operation. An undercover officer contacted Diaz posing as a potential drug customer seeking to buy counterfeit prescription pills containing fentanyl. Diaz provided the undercover officer with 208 pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine. He told the undercover officer that the pills were made with “fentanyl” and they were “knocking people down in New York.”
On two other occasions, Diaz distributed thousands of counterfeit prescription pills containing suspected fentanyl to the undercover officer. On Feb. 14, 2023, he sent a photo of fentanyl pills to the undercover officer and said, “even making it with a mask makes you want to vomit and everything.”
Diaz was arrested Feb. 15, 2023 while carrying a shopping bag containing 31,142 fentanyl pills separated into seven plastic bags. During a subsequent search of Diaz’s Haverhill home, a pill press, thousands of pills, powder containing fentanyl and methadone, stamps used to make counterfeit pills, several masks and chemicals used in manufacturing pills were found.