Fifteen people were arrested after Operation Devil’s Handshake uncovered a Worcester cocaine ring that involved, among other things, sending drugs to the United States from Puerto Rico in a can of beans, federal prosecutors said Friday.
Devil’s Handshake was a two-year joint investigation by federal and state authorities, the US attorney’s office said in a statement.
Federal drug trafficking conspiracy complaints were unsealed Thursday against seven suspects, prosecutors said.
State authorities arrested another eight suspects on related drug trafficking offenses. They face charges from the Worcester district attorney’s office, prosecutors said.
The fifteen suspects were arrested early Thursday morning.
According to a sworn statement by a federal agent in support of the charges, the suspects distributed cocaine and crack cocaine in the Worcester area.
The seven suspects arrested by federal authorities include four men and three women, officials said. They are charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine or cocaine base and face up to life in prison, followed by 10 years of supervision and a $10 million maximum fine, prosecutors said.
Officials said that one man, who was arrested in Puerto Rico, shipped cocaine from Puerto Rico to another suspect via US mail. The drugs were hidden in a resealed can of beans. A canning machine was recovered from the sender’s home in Puerto Rico, prosecutors said.
A US postal inspector working with the US Drug Enforcement Administration intercepted the package, officials said.
Some of the suspects have been convicted previously of violent crimes and narcotics-
related felonies and therefore face the possibility of enhanced sentences, officials said.
Melissa Werthmann can be reached at melissa.werthmann@globe.com.