Alleged meth and fentanyl capsule mill kingpin with ties to China busted

An alleged meth and fentanyl kingpin of a “sprawling” Higher Boston empire was arrested and charged following an investigation which indicated he may have produced hundreds of thousands of counterfeit drugs — partially funded by Paycheck Safety Program mortgage fraud.

Schuyler Oppenheimer, 33, of Cambridge, who allegedly performed illicit commerce with Chinese language suppliers beneath the title “Michael Sylvain,” was arrested final week and charged in federal court docket in Boston with possession of 500 grams and extra of a combination and substance containing a detectable quantity of methamphetamine and two counts of wire fraud. The drug cost carries a minimum of 10 years and as much as life in jail if convicted.

Oppenheimer consented to voluntary detention forward of a detention listening to, in line with court docket data, and prosecutors say he may face further expenses.

“The sprawling manufacturing of illegal drugs alleged in this case is as dangerous as it is appalling. It is alleged that Mr. Oppenheimer illegally manufactured hundreds of kilograms of lethal drugs in order to continue to saturate our streets with deadly drugs,” stated appearing U.S. Legal professional Joshua Levy.

A state and federal drug job drive member described Oppenheimer repeatedly in a prolonged affidavit supporting the costs as a “skilled” drug chemist. A rap sheet included in court docket paperwork reveals drug expenses — convicted or in any other case — relationship again to 2008 and on the time of his arrest on July 18, Oppenheimer was on pretrial launch for 3 pending circumstances.

Along with his personal document, legislation enforcement was already on to him as a result of he’s suspected “to historically have been a technician for other large-scale pill producers in Massachusetts,” in line with the affidavit.

That features working for North Shore fentanyl kingpin Vincent “Fatz” Caruso, who alongside along with his mom in 2021 pleaded responsible to working a large-scale drug trafficking group specializing in pressed fentanyl drugs and was sentenced to greater than 20 years in jail. Caruso and a lieutenant of his, Ernest “Yo Pesci” Johnson, who was sentenced final yr to seven and a half years in jail, gained notoriety by posting images of their life to social media.

With greater than 15 years of alleged drug enterprise expertise, it appears as if Oppenheimer was pretty meticulous about his dealings. He rented a single-family residence in Everett all to himself and used the basement as a cookhouse, the affidavit alleges, and didn’t take to social media the best way his purported former employers did. Included in court docket filings are simply grainy surveillance images of him.

Nevertheless it was a home chore that may be his undoing, because the affidavit particulars a number of “trash pulls” during which investigators constructed up their case in opposition to Oppenheimer from the scraps he threw away.

Along with discarded pressed drugs, investigators say they discovered all method of devices of capsule manufacturing together with a minimum of one utility invoice in Oppenheimer’s title of their pulls. Maybe essentially the most telling discover had been notebooks and loose-leaf pages that included recipes and worksheets for figuring the parts of uncooked provides wanted for the illicit drugs.

“According to the recipes recovered during the investigation, when manufactured into counterfeit pills, 200 kilograms of filler powder equates to millions of counterfeit pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine,” the U.S. Legal professional’s workplace in Boston summarized in a press release.

Oppenheimer can also be alleged to have utilized for and acquired $40,000 in Paycheck Safety Program loans and submitted false tax statements. A search of his Cambridge residence on Parker Avenue allegedly uncovered greater than 5 kilograms of suspected methamphetamine fashioned into counterfeit Adderall drugs in addition to a loaded firearm, which Oppenheimer is barred from possessing on account of prior felony convictions.

There have been 507 confirmed or estimated opioid-related deaths in Massachusetts this yr by March, the newest knowledge. There have been 2,125 final yr. There have been a complete of 301 opioid-related deaths final yr in Middlesex County, the place Oppenheimer operated, and 330 in Suffolk, Boston’s county.