#Fentanyl and Pyro Laced Pills Lead to Prison Sentences for Four Defendants

Four Massachusetts men have been sentenced to prison for their roles in an operation that manufactured and distributed counterfeit pills across the United States.

#Investigation and Sentencing

The Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) investigation led to the sentencing of Daniel John Blaney, 28; Kenneth Emmanuel Lora, 27; David Robert Kable Jr., 27; and Javier Alexander Bermudez, 31, all from Lynn, Massachusetts.

The operation, which ran from at least May 2022 to June 2025, involved the manufacture and distribution of counterfeit pills laced with deadly substances, including fentanyl, N-pyrrolidino etonitazene (Pyro), methamphetamine, and Bromazolam. The counterfeit pills were primarily distributed via darknet marketplaces and the U.S. Postal Service to customers nationwide.

The sentences handed down to the group are as follows:

• Blaney: 18 years and 4 months in prison (sentenced on May 27, 2026)
• Kable: 12 years in prison (sentenced on April 29, 2026)
• Bermudez: 12 years in prison (sentenced on March 18, 2026)
• Lora: 15 years in prison (sentenced on December 17, 2025)

#Details of the Operation

The investigation revealed that the operation used industrial pill presses to manufacture counterfeit Oxycodone, Adderall, and Xanax pills, which contained varying substances depending on the batch. For example, their counterfeit oxycodone pills contained a number of substances, including fentanyl and Pyro. Counterfeit Adderall pills typically contained methamphetamine, while counterfeit Xanax pills typically contained Bromazolam, a synthetic benzodiazepine.

The group typically received payment from customers in the form of cryptocurrency. Estimates of the operation's reach show that it was responsible for at least 9,000 sales of pills containing methamphetamine, fentanyl, or Pyro.

#Pyro and Other Substances

Pyro is in the Nitazene class of synthetic opioids commonly sourced from China and mixed into other drugs. The most common Nitazenes are approximately five times the strength of fentanyl, and the Pyro in this case is approximately 20-40 times stronger than fentanyl.

#Arrests and Seizures

The investigation also revealed that:

• On June 4, 2025, Lora was arrested in New York, and during a search of his drug premise, investigators recovered over 39 kilograms of controlled substances.
• On June 17, 2025, law enforcement searched a storage unit maintained by Bermudez and Blaney and recovered five industrial pill presses, pill press attachments used to imprint counterfeit pharmaceutical brandings onto pills, over 33 grams of crystal methamphetamine, 41 kilograms of binding material, and manufacturing paraphernalia.
• On July 12, 2025, Blaney fled through Canada and ultimately to Thailand to avoid prosecution. In advance of his flight, he fraudulently obtained a rush U.S. Passport. Blaney was expelled from Thailand and taken into federal custody on August 25, 2025.