SALEM — Two reputed gang leaders from Salem, believed to be involved in selling thousands of counterfeit Percocets that actually contained fentanyl and openly discussing retaliatory shootings against rival gangs, were arrested Wednesday along with two women in a series of early morning raids, federal prosecutors announced .
The investigation has so far taken what officials say were “dozens” of guns off the street, including guns involved in violent crimes throughout the region.
“The spike in gun violence in recent months has been alarming, to say the least,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Joseph Bonavolonta said during a press conference Wednesday. “Neighborhoods have suffered, along with victims and their families, and police officers face the monumental task of protecting their communities in profoundly different ways than they have in the past.”
Bonavolonto called the raids “a crippling blow” to a large scale criminal operation that has brought “nothing but poison, mayhem and violence to the North Shore.”
The two Salem men, Vincent Caruso, 26, who is known on the street as both “Fatz” and “Big Boy,” and Ernest Johnson, 33, who goes by “Yo Pesci” and “Mr. Live Mr. Drive,” both face multiple conspiracy counts involving fentanyl, firearms and money laundering. Caruso is also charged with conspiracy to possess a machine to manufacture pills.
Caruso’s mother, Laurie Caruso, 51, of Lynn, and Nicole Benton, 45, of Saugus, are both also facing conspiracy charges involving fentanyl and money laundering.
All four face the potential of up to life in prison and up to $10 million in fines, assistant US Attorney Phillip Mallard told a federal magistrate.
The arrests are part of a federal investigation, dubbed “Operation Street Sweepah,” targeting gang and drug activity. So far, 14 people have been charged, and large quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, crack, heroin, and other drugs, as well as guns, have been seized.
A fifth suspect, Cesar Rivera, 22, of Revere, was arrested separately on possession and conspiracy charges.
Vincent Caruso, who identified himself as a Crip gang member while previously in custody at the Middleton Jail, is alleged to be the leader of the enterprise, which provided thousands of counterfeit pills to other gangs on the North Shore, including the Tiny Raskals Gang, the Little Crip gang, and Epic Nation the Label.
Johnson, meanwhile, has gained internet notoriety after he was shot at while livestreaming, a frequent pastime of his. A recent video was livestreamed from a local courthouse, where a suspected witness was making a court appearance, prosecutors say.
Last Thursday, after two people were shot outside a Peabody housing complex, Johnson posted a 27-minute video on his Facebook page, during which he discusses the shooting, blames a rival gang, and says there will “be hell to pay” regardless of whether the victim, a “Little Crips” gang member, lived or died. He also warned he was gathering information on suspected witnesses.
On Friday, he livestreamed himself riding around, a gun visible inside his Gucci bag, saying he was putting rivals “on curfew,” meaning he would be driving past their homes and if he saw them outside he would shoot them.
Caruso also has an active social media presence, frequently posting photos of his luxury goods, including an Audemars Piguet watch, designer clothes and a custom-made diamond-encrusted necklace with his nickname, “Fatz.”
In addition to the luxury items, however, the men kept an assortment of weapons, including multiple Glock firearms, at various locations around the North Shore.
Some of those same guns, including a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle, were seen in rap videos that were filmed throughout the area.
Caruso served 15 days after pleading guilty to misdemeanor breaking and entering in a 2019 incident in which he and a large group of other men were filming a rap video inside the then-vacant Knights of Columbus Hall in Salem.
Scenes for another video referenced by investigators were filmed at Mastro’s Steakhouse in the Seaport, during which Caruso hands a diamond Rolex to an associate as a birthday gift.
Prosecutors say that the high rolling lifestyle was financed through the sale of the potentially lethal counterfeit pills, which sold on the street for as much as $20 each — likely netting millions. The lead investigator in the case likened it to “playing Russian roulette with people’s lives” by selling them fentanyl instead of the less powerful opiate percodan.
In intercepted conversations, Caruso is heard saying he has six pill presses, including one that cost $60,000 and can make 15,000 pills an hour. In the same conversation he discusses importing the machines, and mentions his mother’s involvement in the operation, according to an affidavit.
Caruso was out on bail in two pending Essex County cases, one of them involving firearms charges brought by state police while he was living in Saugus.
To “launder” the proceeds of their alleged drug activity, Caruso’s mother and Benton would regularly visit “The Brook” casino in Seabrook, New Hampshire, placing wagers that would allow them to claim a fresh source for the funds, prosecutors allege.
During their initial court appearance Wednesday afternoon in US District Court, Mallard requested detention for all four, citing the potential life sentences they are facing.
Johnson appeared particularly agitated, interrupting at several points during the hearing.
No pleas were entered during the initial appearance, where lawyers were appointed to all four — though Caruso is expected to hire private counsel.
Magistrate Donald Cabell granted the request pending a probable cause and detention hearing next Thursday, the first date all of the defense attorneys and the prosecutor could agree upon.
Courts reporter Julie Manganis can be reached at 978-338-2521, by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at@SNJulieManganis.
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