Feds arrest 171 suspected members of drug cartel in New England, including 49 in Mass.

The Drug Enforcement Administration announced the arrest of 171 suspected members of the Sinaloa Cartel — which the State Department designated as a terrorist organization earlier this year — in New England in August. 

Between Aug. 25 and 29, the DEA arrested 617 suspects across 23 field divisions nationwide and seized over $11 million dollars in currency, $1.6 million in assets, 420 firearms, 714,707 counterfeit pills, and thousands of kilograms of other drugs: 480 of fentanyl powder, 2,209 of methamphetamine, 7,469 of cocaine, and 16.55 of heroin, according to the DEA. 

In New England specifically, 244 kilograms of drugs, 22,115 counterfeit pills, $1.3 million in currency, and 33 guns were seized, according to the New England division of the DEA. 

Of the 171 arrested in New England, 64 were in Connecticut, 49 in Massachusetts, 33 in New Hampshire, 11 in Maine, 10 in Rhode Island, and three in Vermont, according to the New England division of the DEA. 

In Franklin, New Hampshire, 27 suspects were arrested on Aug. 27 and fentanyl and methamphetamine from Lawrence, Mass. was seized after a three-month long investigation, according to the Franklin Police Department. 

Despite the arrests and seizures, “​​The Sinaloa Cartel remains one of the most significant threats to public safety, public health and our national security,” the DEA wrote in a statement Monday. 

“These results demonstrate the full weight of DEA’s commitment to protecting the American people,” DEA Administrator Terrance Cole wrote in the statement. “Every kilogram of poison seized, every dollar stripped from the cartels, and every arrest we make represents lives saved and communities defended. DEA will not relent until the Sinaloa Cartel is dismantled from top to bottom.”

The Sinaloa Cartel, which is based in Mexico, has thousands of members across 40 countries, “who are responsible for the production, manufacturing, distribution, and operations related to trafficking dangerous and deadly synthetic drugs,” the DEA wrote.

Facebook updates on the arrests: