Four Massachusetts men have received significant prison sentences for their roles in a vast conspiracy to manufacture and distribute dangerous counterfeit pills containing fentanyl, N-pyrrolidino etonitazene (Pyro), methamphetamine, and Bromazolam across the United States.
Daniel John Blaney, 28; Kenneth Emmanuel Lora, 27; David Robert Kable Jr., 27; and Javier Alexander Bermudez, 31, all from Lynn, Massachusetts, used industrial pill presses to create fake Oxycodone, Adderall, and Xanax. These pills were then distributed nationwide, primarily through darknet marketplaces and the U.S. Postal Service, with payments often made in cryptocurrency. The conspiracy, active from May 2022 to June 2025, was linked to at least 9,000 sales and over a dozen fatal overdoses.
The counterfeit Oxycodone pills contained fentanyl and Pyro, a synthetic opioid 20-40 times stronger than fentanyl. Fake Adderall typically held methamphetamine, while counterfeit Xanax contained Bromazolam. Law enforcement efforts led to Lora's arrest in New York on June 4, 2025, where over 39 kilograms of controlled substances were seized. A subsequent search of a storage unit maintained by Bermudez and Blaney on June 17, 2025, uncovered five industrial pill presses and significant quantities of crystal methamphetamine and binding material.
Blaney attempted to evade prosecution by fleeing to Thailand on July 12, 2025, using a fraudulently obtained U.S. Passport, but was apprehended and returned to federal custody on August 25, 2025. The sentences include Blaney receiving 18 years and 4 months, Lora 15 years, and Kable and Bermudez each 12 years. This case was investigated by multiple agencies, including the FBI and DEA, and is part of the Homeland Security Task Force and Operation Take Back America initiatives.