RI State Police, DEA bust major drug trafficking ring

By: Rebecca Turco

Email: rturco@abc6.com

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Authorities in Rhode Island busted a major drug ring, taking at least 45 kilograms of drugs off the streets of New England.

23 people have been charged in federal court in Providence, two people have been charged in state courts in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and federal arrest warrants have been issued for several more individuals.

"We can’t begin to imagine what would’ve happened, how many people would have died, if these illegal drugs made it to the street,” said Col. Anne Assumpico in a joint press conference at the office of Rhode Island Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen Dambruch.

Dambruch says Ramon Delossantos, 24, operated the drug ring out of Cumberland. The investigation, Operation Panamera, is named after Delossantos’ Porsche.

"These people are greedy,” said Damruch. “They’re doing it for money."

Investigators wire-tapped Delossantos’ phones, ultimately pinning him down and charging him.

During the eight-month investigation, authorities seized kilos of fentanyl, cocaine, marijuana and mushrooms. They caught drug runners through traffic stops, search warrants – they even nabbed drugs being mailed.

"I have no doubt that lives have been saved in Rhode Island by the removal of so much fentanyl from the streets," said DEA Special Agent Michael Ferguson.

Prosecutors believe the drug ring funneled hundreds of kilos of drugs through Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont.

"They’re going to pay the cost and that’s going to be a lengthy jail term in a federal prison," said Dambruch.

© WLNE-TV 2017