Lawrence, MA Man Pleads Guilty in Counterfeit Fentanyl Pill Case

A man from Lawrence pleaded guilty this week to running part of a drug manufacturing ring that made and sold fake pills laced with fentanyl, according to a press release by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Aris Arvelo Gonzalez, 37, admitted in federal court in Boston that he took part in a conspiracy to manufacture, distribute, and possess controlled substances with the intent to sell them. He was a member of a drug trafficking group called "La Culebra." A judge has scheduled his sentencing for January 13, 2027.

Court documents show Gonzalez and the group ran a large drug operation out of an apartment in Methuen. When investigators searched that apartment in August 2025, they found more than 18 kilograms of controlled substances along with a pill press, a machine used to stamp out fake pills.

Investigators say Gonzalez kept dealing even after he was arrested once already. While he was out on pretrial release from a January 2025 drug arrest in New Hampshire, he sold more than 1,500 grams of counterfeit pills containing fentanyl. He made those sales to a confidential informant and an undercover agent on four separate occasions between July and November of 2025.

When agents finally arrested him, they found him carrying thousands of counterfeit pills split into smaller bags, along with a large amount of cash. Investigators later searched three more locations in Lawrence connected to Gonzalez and the trafficking group. Inside, they found more pill-making equipment and a 25-kilogram bag of the binding agent used to hold counterfeit pills together.

The charge Gonzalez pleaded guilty to carries a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison, along with years of supervised release and fines that could reach $1 million.

The case is part of a larger federal effort called Operation Take Back America, which targets drug cartels and trafficking organizations across the country.