BOSTON, March 17 (UPI) -- Police in Boston said the alleged head of a Colombia cocaine operation based in part in Boston was arrested during a raid by authorities.
The Boston Herald said Wednesday that Ferney Pereanez, 24, was arrested along with seven other suspects, including his brother Luis, this week when FBI agents joined local and state police for a raid.
Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said Tuesday's law enforcement operation "comes after two years of investigation into the workings of a Colombian drug-trafficking syndicate."
Also arrested in the raid were Carlos Osorto, 27; Julio Burgado, 25; Martha Garcia, 47; Maritza Franco, 27; Wilmar Andres Medina, 27; and Biviana Lotero Montoya, 36.
All eight suspects, who pleaded innocent to charges filed against them, are being held on various cash bail amounts, the Herald reported.
Boston police Commissioner Edward Davis said the operation allegedly headed by Pereanez involved cocaine imported through Mexico and South America.
"This was definitely an international operation," Davis said.
