Local sisters busted for drugs in Mass.; 1 suspect flees home

New York.- Lawrence, Mass. police on Sunday announced the bust of a drug-trafficking gang led by Dominicans, two sisters among them, with one suspect having fled to the Dominican Republic.

The women were identified as Ana Caraballo, 32, and Estefany Caraballo 24. The first already pleaded guilty to distribution of heroin in a Salem court March 26, and sentenced to one year in prison.

Estefany Caraballo had been charged with conspiracy to distribute drugs, but was later dismissed by the Prosecutor of Essex County.

Prosecutors said the 18 month iinvestigation led to the arrest of the two women and of Manuel Rodríguez Santiago, while Cecilio Hiraldo Andújar, 43, fled to the Dominican Republic and was placed on the list of drug trafficking fugitives.

Arrest warrants against the group were issued by Haverhill District Court on May 2013, after Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agents learned that drug transactions were taking place at the building on Franklin Street #70.