An alleged meth and fentanyl kingpin of a “sprawling” Greater Boston empire was arrested and charged following an investigation which indicated he could have produced millions of counterfeit pills — partially funded through Paycheck Protection Program loan fraud.

Schuyler Oppenheimer, 33, of Cambridge, who allegedly conducted illicit trade with Chinese suppliers under the name “Michael Sylvain,” was arrested last week and charged in federal court in Boston with possession of 500 grams and more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine and two counts of wire fraud. The drug charge carries at least 10 years and up to life in prison if convicted.

Oppenheimer consented to voluntary detention ahead of a detention hearing, according to court records, and prosecutors say he could face additional charges.

“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,” said acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy.

A state and federal drug task force member described Oppenheimer repeatedly in a lengthy affidavit supporting the charges as a “skilled” drug chemist. A rap sheet included in court documents shows drug charges — convicted or otherwise — dating back to 2008 and at the time of his arrest on July 18, Oppenheimer was on pretrial release for three pending cases.

In addition to his own record, law enforcement was already on to him because he is suspected “to historically have been a technician for other large-scale pill producers in Massachusetts,” according to the affidavit.

That includes working for North Shore fentanyl kingpin Vincent “Fatz” Caruso, who along with his mother in 2021 pleaded guilty to operating a large-scale drug trafficking organization specializing in pressed fentanyl pills and was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison. Caruso and a lieutenant of his, Ernest “Yo Pesci” Johnson, who was sentenced last year to seven and a half years in prison, gained notoriety through posting photos of their lifestyles to social media.

With more than 15 years of alleged drug business experience, it seems as though Oppenheimer was fairly meticulous about his dealings. He rented a single-family home in Everett all to himself and used the basement as a cookhouse, the affidavit alleges, and didn’t take to social media the way his purported former employers did. Included in court filings are just grainy surveillance photos of him.

But it was a domestic chore that would be his undoing, as the affidavit details several “trash pulls” in which investigators built up their case against Oppenheimer from the scraps he threw away.

In addition to discarded pressed pills, investigators say they found all manner of instruments of pill production along with at least one utility bill in Oppenheimer’s name in their pulls. Perhaps the most telling find were notebooks and loose-leaf pages that included recipes and worksheets for figuring the portions of raw supplies needed for the illicit pills.

“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. Attorney’s office in Boston summarized in a statement.

Oppenheimer is also alleged to have applied for and received $40,000 in Paycheck Protection Program loans and submitted false tax statements. A search of his Cambridge home on Parker Street allegedly uncovered more than five kilograms of suspected methamphetamine formed into counterfeit Adderall pills as well as a loaded firearm, which Oppenheimer is barred from possessing due to prior felony convictions.

There were 507 confirmed or estimated opioid-related deaths in Massachusetts this year through March, the most recent data. There were 2,125 last year. There were a total of 301 opioid-related deaths last year in Middlesex County, where Oppenheimer operated, and 330 in Suffolk, Boston’s county.

A field scanner showing that these orange pressed pills seized during an investigation into Schuyler Oppenheimer tested positive for methamphetamine. (Courtesy / U.S. District Court)

Bags of pressed pills law enforcement seized from an Everett home rented by Schuyler Oppenheimer that field tested positive for methamphetamine. (Courtesy / U.S. District Court)

A still from a video of a pill press federal prosecutors say Schuyler Oppenheimer used to produce fentanyl and methamphetamine pills. (Courtesy / U.S. District Court)

Respiratory masks and goggles federal prosecutors say Schuyler Oppenheimer used to produce fentanyl and methamphetamine pills. (Courtesy / U.S. District Court)