Bedford, Amherst Residents Charged In Drug Trafficking Case

CONCORD, NH — Six people were arrested Thursday after a cross-border drug trafficking investigation conducted by the N.H. Attorney General's Office and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The investigation, which lasted several months, involved drug trafficking activities in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The following six people were arrested after search warrants were executed Thursday in Bedford, Ashland and in Massachusetts communities of Haverhill and Lawrence.

• Brian Rutherford, 22, of Bedford, was charged with conspiracy to possess the controlled drug fentanyl with intent to sell. He will be arraigned Friday at Rockingham County Superior Court.
• Mackenzie Ramos, 25, of Amherst, was charged with possession of fentanyl with intent to sell. She will be arraigned Friday at Rockingham County Superior Court.
• Samantha Bidwell, 30, of Ashland, was charged with possession of fentanyl with intent to sell. She will be arraigned Friday at Grafton County Superior Court.
• Ramon Rivera Muniz, 31, of Haverhill, Massachusetts, was arrested on two warrants from Hillsborough County for a parole violation and a pending charge of possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute.
• Valeria Vanessa Cartagena Toro, 24, of Haverhill, Massachusetts, was charged with conspiracy to sell fentanyl.
• Jonathan Betancourt, 29, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was charged with four counts of selling fentanyl.
• Muniz, Cartagena Toro and Betancourt are being held in Massachusetts at the Middleton House of Correction pending extradition, according to the N.H. Attorney General's Office.

The following agencies were involved in investigating this drug trafficking case: N.H. Attorney General’s Office, the DEA, the New Hampshire and Massachusetts state police, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, N.H. Department of Corrections and the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, as well as police departments of Ashland, Bedford, Manchester, Salem, Pelham, Plymouth and Haverhill, Massachusetts.