Updates a story posted Thursday at 3:43 p.m.
HOLYOKE — Seven men and two women arrested here Thursday were part of an East Coast ring that distributed pain-killer oxycodone obtained in Florida with the help of a pharmacy technician, officials said.
Among those arrested in the sweep that included busts in Puerto Rico was Idalia Morales, 54, a cafeteria worker at Kelly School, where she was arrested as the school day began, Police Chief James M. Neiswanger and other officials said.
Police have no indication Morales was dealing illegal drugs at Kelly, a kindergarten-to-grade-eight school at 216 West St., officials said.
Kelly Principal Jacqueline Glasheen said she was unable to comment on Morales because personnel matters are confidential.
School Superintendent David L. Dupont couldn't be reached for comment.
Mayor Alex B. Morse, chairman of the School Committee, said that the arrest of Morales likely will come up in a committee discussion and that the School Department will cooperate fully with police. As Neiswanger said, it appeared no drug dealing occurred at Kelly, he said.
"That's important to note," Morse said.
Neiswanger addressed the sweep in a press conference with representatives of some of the law enforcement agencies at the Police Station at 138 Appleton St.
"Again, the goal is to drive the criminal elements down," Neiswanger said.
The lead agency in the 10-month investigation was the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Other agencies were Holyoke police, Easthampton police, the office of Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni, Hampden County Narcotics Task Force, Hampden County Sheriff's Department, the Massachusetts State Police, FBI, Internal Revenue Service, the United Postal Service, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Marshals Service, officials said.
"It's a group effort here in Holyoke and, as in other cities, Holyoke does have some challenges out on the street and Holyoke can't do it alone. It's that cooperative effort that really does make a difference," Neiswanger said.
The investigation focused on the city of Kissimmee in central Florida and was called "Operation More or Less," officials said.
Holyoke Police Chief James M. Neiswanger speaks at Thursday press conference about drug arrests. Representatives of other law enforcement agencies are to Neiswanger's right at Police Station.
The oxycodone trafficking operation was running for several years. An investigation that included intercepted phone calls and surveillance focused on "Encore Pharmacy Discount, located in a newly developed and upscale part of downtown Kissimmee, to fill the prescriptions," according a story posted Thursday on the Orlando Sentinel website.
Edwin Morales-Hernandez, 51, and Rafael Rivera, 39, who were brothers-in-law and live in Palm Bay; were described as the operation's ringleaders. They worked with pharmacy technician Francisca Maria Paez, 27, according to the Sentinel.
Morales-Hernandez and Rivera recruited and paid people to travel from Puerto Rico or Massachusetts, to Florida, where they went to pain clinics to get prescriptions for painkillers. Then the drugs were mailed to various addresses here, according to the Sentinel.
Cash from the drug sales was deposited in banks here and the money was withdrawn from banks in Florida, Neiswanger said.
Twenty-four or 25 people were arrested in Florida, including Morales-Hernandez, Rivera, and Paez and six in Puerto Rico, according to Neiswanger and the Sentinel.
Here, many of the arrests were made at what Neiswanger said was a kind of distribution center at 179 Oak St., a run-down, three-story apartment building near Appleton Street in the Downtown Neighborhood. At least one arrest was made here at 205 Walnut St., he said.
At 179 Oak St. late Thursday afternoon, people inside told a reporter from The Republican and MassLive.com they either knew nothing about the arrests or didn't live in the building.
179 Oak St., Holyoke, which police was a kind of center for drug distribution in relation to nine arrests made Thursday.
Police here said they seized two handguns, 80 grams of uncut heroin, with a street value of $2,400, and grinding and other equipment used to dilute the drug.
Oxycodone has a link to heroin that Holyoke Police Sgt. Daniel F. Reardon said makes the latter even more dangerous. People take oxycodone to relieve continuous pain for an extended period. But at $30 a pill, oxycodone gets expensive. Many people who are addicted to the pain-relief high of the costly pill turn to heroin, a cheaper substitute at $5 to $7 for a small plastic bag, police said.
"It's an evil, evil drug," Reardon said.
People who normally would have nothing to do with heroin might become users as they seek a narcotic after the oxycodone they got in a prescription for a shoulder or leg injury runs out, he said.
Pure heroin is cut, or mixed, with an ingredient such as a lactose-based powder. That's done both to increase the amount that can be sold and because ingesting the drug in as pure a form as the heroin seized Thursday likely would kill someone, he said.
Idalia Morales, of 94 Federal St., Springfield was charged in relation to a Florida warrant, Holyoke Police Lt. Matthew F. Moriarty said. He said he had no details about what the warrants of those arrested were for.
Also charged in relation to Florida warrants were Alex Collazo, 35, 10 Morango St., Springfield, and Miguel Berrios, 52, of 5 Worcester Place, Holyoke, he said.
Charged in relation to federal warrants were Carlos Aberto Cotto, 24, 184 Beech St., Holyoke, Doel Vega, 23, of 26 Gerard Way, Holyoke, Edwin Negron, 26, 217 Essex St., Holyoke, Heriberto Morales, 44, of 270 Essex St., Holyoke, and Angel Medina, 31, of 21 Bowers St., Holyoke, he said.
Cynthia Maldonado, 30, 205 Walnut St., Holyoke, was charged with possession of a firearm without a firearms identification card, he said.