Five Massachusetts and Rhode Island Men Indicted for Operating Cross-State Drug Dispatch Network That Flooded New Hampshire with Meth and Fentanyl, in New Hampshire Homeland Security Task Force Investigation
CONCORD, N.H. – Five men have been indicted in Homeland Security Task Force Investigation for their roles in a 30-month cross-state drug trafficking conspiracy that targeted Manchester and Seabrook communities with more than three pounds of methamphetamine and more than a half kilogram of fentanyl, U.S. Attorney Erin Creegan announces.
Reimon Pena Rodriguez, 34, of Pawtucket, Rhode Island; Hansel Rodriguez Arias, 41, of Lawrence, Massachusetts; Johan Peguero Santana, 25, of Lawrence, Massachusetts; Arismendy Paulino Paulino, 37, of Lawrence, Massachusetts; and Yomar Mercedes Medina, 36, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, were charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl. Pena Rodriguez was originally charged by complaint and has been in federal custody since his arrest on April 2, 2026. Rodriguez Arias and Peguero Santana are in New Hampshire state custody on related charges. Paulino Paulino and Mercedes Medina have not yet been arrested.
According to the charging document and statements made in court during prior related proceedings, from September 2023 through April 2026, Pena Rodriguez ran a drug dispatch network using six dedicated phone lines to accept narcotics orders and direct co-conspirators Rodriguez Arias, Peguero Santana, Paulino Paulino, and Mercedes Medina to complete street-level drug sales at prearranged locations in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Law enforcement conducted numerous undercover purchases from the organization during the course of the investigation, seizing more than three pounds of methamphetamine and more than a half kilogram of fentanyl.
The charge against the defendants carries a penalty of not less than 10 years and up to life in federal prison, at least 5 years of supervised release, and a maximum fine of $10,000,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
DEA and the Manchester Police Department led the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cesar A. Vega is prosecuting the case.
This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF New Hampshire comprises agents and officers from FBI, HSI, IRS, DEA, ATF, USMS, and DSS with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Hampshire.
