Nine people, including at least one alleged member of the 18th Street Gang, were arrested and face charges in both state and federal courts ranging from trafficking fentanyl in and around the North Shore to rape of a child.

“Fentanyl continues to devastate lives across Massachusetts, and the defendants arrested yesterday allegedly pumped this poison into North Shore communities for a profit,” said acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy on Friday. “These charges represent the continued close working relationship across federal, state and local law enforcement to relentlessly investigate, identify and disrupt criminal organizations and our efforts to protect our communities from lethal narcotics.”

Levy’s office charged four of the arrestees in federal court in Boston with distribution of and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. Those men are Orlando “Intruso” Mancia, 22, of Everett; Tony Cartegena-Chacon, 46, of Chelsea; Hector Luis Santana Guzman, 33, of Lawrence, who goes by “DJ Black,” according to the feds; and John Angel, 31, of Nantucket.

Federal law enforcement officials identified Mancia as a member of the 18th Street Gang.

“The arrest of these individuals, including a known 18th Street gang member, for dealing fentanyl in the North Shore of Boston is a critical step in combating the devastating impact of illegal drugs in our communities,” said James M. Ferguson, the special agent in charge of Boston’s Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives.

The U.S. Attorney’s office summarized the charging documents, which were not available from publicly searchable court records Friday afternoon.

That summary alleges that Mancia sold large quantities of fentanyl pressed into pill form on at least two occasions last month to a person cooperating with federal investigators. Likewise, Cartegena-Chacon is also charged with intent to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl and 100 grams of suspected cocaine and about $25,000 in cash — suspected drug money — was found at Angel’s residence.

In investigating the drug conspiracy, law enforcement also allegedly discovered evidence that led to five additional men being charged in state courts. They are Everett residents Elvin Martinez, 23, and Marlon Eduardo Varela, 20; and Chelsea residents Fidel Alexis Orellana, 21; Bryan Molina, 21; and Luis Borja, 20.

These men were charged with various crimes including drug trafficking and child abuse crimes, including rape of a child and possession of child pornography, as well as unlawful possession of ammunition. The U.S. Attorney’s office did not specify which charges applied to which defendant.

Fentanyl

FBI Boston’s Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen applauded the arrests of “alleged drug traffickers accused of pushing deadly poison onto our streets.”

The “poison” moniker is apt, as fentanyl continues to rip through the nation at large as well as Massachusetts specifically.

An estimated 74,702 were killed by overdosing on fentanyl last year nationally, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control data. That marked the first year of declining overdoses since 2018, the agency reported, as the year before saw more than 1,500 more deaths. That still makes it roughly double the number of deaths attributed to methamphetamine and its ilk during the year, which killed a suspected 36,251 people.

As of the end of March, 507 people had died from opioid overdoses so far this year in Massachusetts, including both confirmed and suspected cases, according to the most recent data released by the state Department of Public Health. The same data shows 2,125 people died of confirmed or suspected opioid overdoses.