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Drug ring allegedly brought Colombian cocaine to Boston

E-mail|Link|Comments () March 16, 2010 05:56 PM

By Maria Cramer, Globe Staff

Authorities say they have arrested the kingpin of a drug trafficking syndicate that brought as much as $100,000 worth of cocaine a week from Colombia into the Boston area.

Ferney Pereanez

Ferney Pereanez, 24, of East Boston, faces charges of trafficking more than 100 grams of cocaine, officials announced at a news conference today.

"The evidence developed during hundreds of cellphone intercepts suggests Pereanez is a drug kingpin in the truest sense of the word," Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said at the news conference.

Authorities say Pereanez was arrested, along with his brother, a lieutenant in the operation, and six others this morning. Five other lower-level figures in the gang had already been arrested.

The arrests came after a two-year investigation that cost about $250,000 and involved 24 Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and State Police as well as FBI agents.

Authorities believe Pereanez focused on selling cocaine in East Boston, Revere, and Chelsea. The cocaine was allegedly imported from Colombia, entering the country at the Mexican border before being smuggled to Massachusetts.

Pereanez and the other defendants pleaded not guilty today in Suffolk Superior Court.