Blackstone Police have arrested RYAN ALVAREZ, OF WOONSOCKET, RHODE ISLAND, on multiple drug charges. (Photo Courtesy Blackstone Police Department) 
Blackstone Police made an arrest earlier this week in connection with a multi-unit drug trafficking investigation, seizing large quantities of suspected cocaine and suspected counterfeit Oxycodone pills that contain fentanyl, along with drug distribution materials. (Photo Courtesy Blackstone Police Department) 
Blackstone Police made an arrest earlier this week in connection with a multi-unit drug trafficking investigation, seizing large quantities of suspected cocaine and suspected counterfeit Oxycodone pills that contain fentanyl, along with drug distribution materials. (Photo Courtesy Blackstone Police Department)
BLACKSTONE — Chief Gregory Gilmore reports that the Blackstone Police Department made an arrest and seized suspected narcotics and drug distribution materials earlier this week following a multi-unit investigation.
RYAN ALVAREZ, AGE 20, OF WOONSOCKET, RHODE ISLAND, was arrested on charges of:
- Trafficking of Class A narcotics (fentanyl)
- Distribution of Class B narcotics (cocaine)
On Monday, Oct. 18, members of the Blackstone Police Department, in cooperation with task force members from the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit assigned to the Worcester County District Attorney’s office, the Worcester DEA Tactical Diversion Squad, and the Woonsocket Police Department, conducted an operation in Blackstone involving an undercover officer attempting to purchase narcotics.
ALVAREZ was arrested in Blackstone Monday, Oct. 18 after allegedly agreeing to sell 500 fentanyl pills to the undercover officer.
The investigation, which began in September, involved an undercover officer purchasing suspected cocaine and suspected counterfeit Oxycodone pills that contained fentanyl. During the course of the investigation, over 1,000 suspected fentanyl pills were seized, along with over 30 grams of suspected cocaine and a vehicle.
Following the arrest of ALVAREZ on Monday, Woonsocket detectives executed a search warrant on a residence in the city that resulted in the seizure of over 80 grams of cocaine, approximately $9,500 in cash, multiple cell phones and distribution packaging.
Additional charges against ALVAREZ are pending out of Rhode Island.
“Our team worked diligently in making this arrest, and we are appreciative of the federal, state and local law enforcement agencies who assisted in helping us take these dangerous drugs and a suspected drug dealer off the streets,” Chief Gilmore said.
Rise in Fake Prescription Pills
Recently, the Drug Enforcement Administration issued a Public Safety Alert warning Americans of the alarming increase in the lethality and availability of fake prescription pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine. The DEA’s Public Safety Alert, the first in six years, seeks to raise public awareness of a significant nationwide surge in counterfeit pills that are mass-produced by criminal drug networks in labs, deceptively marketed as legitimate prescription pills, and are killing unsuspecting Americans at an unprecedented rate.
When this public safety alert was issued, Chief Gilmore held a meeting with the members of the Blackstone Police Department’s drug interdiction team to stress the importance of finding and acting upon any intelligence they had to inhibit the availability of these dangerous pills in Blackstone.
These are allegations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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