PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — At the same time brothers Andres and Oscar Perez were climbing the ranks of the Providence Police Department, federal agents said their nephew – Jasdrual “Josh” Perez – was running a multistate fentanyl drug ring out of the capital city.

Federal investigators from Massachusetts raided Josh Perez’s suspected stash house and pill-pressing operation in February 2022. The agents allege his “robust long-running drug operation” pumped the deadly narcotic into the streets of several states, including Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York and Tennessee.

“The evidence shows that [Josh] represents a significant danger to community,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey Weinstein wrote in a court briefing last August, arguing the defendant was responsible for manufacturing tens of thousands of pills “for wholesale drug suppliers up and down the East Coast.”

Court documents show the Providence Police Department wasn’t involved in the probe. And when Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins touted the massive drug bust last March, she lauded several Rhode Island local, state and federal law enforcement agencies for their help. Providence was not included.

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