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Devil’s Highway was a 2019 police operation to stop drug trafficking in the Merrimack Valley. Law enforcement officials had focused their efforts on curtailing the distribution of drugs between Lawrence and New Hampshire. The 40 arrests resulting from the operation were made over 10 weeks last summer.
Angel Rivera-Valle, aka Jose Antonio Serrano, 31, of Lawrence, was one of the 40 people caught in operation Devil’s Highway, He was sentenced to 64 months in prison and four years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Massachusetts.
Rivera-Valle is a Dominican national and will face deportation at the end of his sentence.
In April, Rivera-Valle pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl, two counts of distribution and possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl, and distribution and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Not everyone arrested in operation Devil’s Highway has completed their trials. They are presumed innocent until proven guilty, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Investigating law enforcement included members of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Massachusetts State Police, and Andover Police.
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