27 people charged in DEA drug sweep in Franklin

FRANKLIN — After a three-month investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Franklin Police have charged 27 people for their involvement with drug trafficking linked to Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel.

“The Sinoloa Cartel in Mexico has a strong hold on drug distribution in New England, and this week’s enforcement action attacked their street level distribution network,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget, New England Field Division. “This case is an excellent example of how federal leadership and local cooperation can come together to protect communities like Franklin from the dangers of drug trafficking.”

According to information provided by the DEA, fentanyl and methamphetamine coming from Lawrence, Massachusetts, was seized. Lawrence has long been known as a source of narcotics into New Hampshire communities.

“It is safe to say hundred-gram quantities of fentanyl and meth were seized during the investigation,” DEA Spokesperson Kristen Govostes said.

The Franklin Police Department released a prepared statement about the drug bust, saying a “coordinated operation” took place Aug. 26-27, resulting in charges, multiple search warrants and “significant seizures.”

DEA agents and Franklin Police officers executed three search warrants on Aug. 26, and apprehended 17 people, while also seizing about $100,000 in cash, a firearm and “a quantity of illegal narcotics.”

Enforcement continued Aug. 27, with 10 more people charged, as well as clearing a homeless encampment involved in ongoing drug sales.

Police Chief Dan Poirier and DEA officers could not disclose the exact amount of drugs seized. Poirier confirmed fentanyl and methamphetamine are a continued problem in the community, and crack cocaine appears to be making a comeback over the last two years.

He also added the quality of the methamphetamine is extremely high, with tests showing 99% purity. There was once a time where methamphetamine was often being created in a “one-pot” lab, which is not only expensive and difficult to gather ingredients, but also dangerous. He recalls a fire about a dozen years ago when a suspect threw the pot during a raid, causing a large fire in the city.

The uptick in methamphetamine use is due to the availability, as a much purer version of the drug is coming up from Mexico.

According to Franklin police, the investigation started when the DEA and Franklin Police discovered a drug-trafficking network operating in the city. Over the next two months, DEA agents were supported by Franklin detectives to surveil the city, while gathering evidence and building cases that led to the charges this week.

State Police, the Merrimack County Sheriff’s Office, the Salem Police K-9 unit, as well as Northfield, Bristol, Alexandria and Andover police participated in the investigation.

Poirier explained his department has a great working relationship with the DEA and other departments involved. They used undercover officers and confidential informants to gather intel, and during the roundup there were about 60 officers involved each day. He said it is the collaborative effort that makes these efforts run smoothly. Poirier added there were no injuries or issues which arose during the apprehension of the suspecets.

“We work so well together,” Poirier said. “I’ve been in Franklin over 16 years, and on Tuesday and Wednesday, I have never seen so many officers and agents working one case for an operation.”

Photos of the suspects were included in a Facebook post with the department's prepared statement. Both the DEA and State Police deferred comments to the Franklin Police Department as to why names and charges were not included with the release. 

Poirier said on Thursday the names and charges were withheld at the direction of the Franklin Police Department, and said, “this is kind of how things have transpired moving forward with defendants getting a fair trial.”

He explained some defendants felt that by having their names and charges released publicly, it could jeopardize getting a fair trial. Poirier said this is the practice of many agencies, including the DEA.

“This is how things are progressing in law enforcement,” Poirier said.

The majority of those charged are Franklin residents, and they were all known to police, Poirier said. He was pleased with the collaborative effort, and said the public has also responded positively about the police cleaning up the streets.

“What we were able to take off the streets makes a big impact in the community,” Poirier said. “We had numerous people come in who live in Franklin thanking us.”

The DEA has been involved in drug sweeps in several New England communities. The DEA posted on their New England X account on Aug. 27 about drugs seized in Massachusetts “directly linked” to the Sinaloa Cartel, with one suspect apprehended in the bust. The following day the DEA said 5,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills were seized, and an image of about two dozen bags of pills was included.

In another Aug. 27 post, the DEA wrote that agents in Connecticut charged four people, and seized 7 kilograms of fentanyl from the greater Hartford area.

In both cases, the names and specific charges were omitted.

“All week long, agents are targeting drugs like this being sourced from the cartels,” the DEA posted with the hashtag #SinaloaCrackdown2025. “Our goal is to make our streets safer places to be.”