Auburn Man Pleads Guilty to Drug Trafficking

            CONCORD - Leon Mandigo, 33, of Auburn, pleaded guilty in federal court to drug trafficking, United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced today.

             According to court documents and statements made in court, during an ongoing drug trafficking investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration learned that Mandigo was obtaining fentanyl from a source located in Massachusetts.  On March 7, 2018, agents learned that Mandigo intended to travel to Massachusetts to purchase 200 grams of fentanyl and later observed him participate in a hand-to-hand exchange with a known drug trafficker. 

            After the transaction, the New Hampshire State Police stopped a vehicle in which Mandigo was a passenger.  During the stop, he pulled an orange bag from his pants and threw it on the ground where a trooper later picked it up.  The bag contained approximately 184 grams of fentanyl.  

            Mandigo is scheduled to be sentenced on December 30, 2020.

            “The interstate transportation of fentanyl into New Hampshire endangers all of our citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Murray.  “Public health and safety have been seriously undermined by the distribution of this drug.  In order to counteract this dangerous and illegal trade, we will continue to work tirelessly to identify and prosecute the traffickers who are responsible for fentanyl sales in the Granite State.”

            The case was a collaborative investigation that involved the DEA; the New Hampshire State Police; the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office; the Nashua Police Department; the Massachusetts State Police; the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office; the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office; the Essex County District Attorney’s Office; the Internal Revenue Service; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations; United States Customs and Border Protection Boston Field Office; the United States Marshals Service; the United States Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service; the Manchester Police Department; the Lisbon Police Department; the Littleton Police Department; the Seabrook Police Department; the Haverhill (MA) Police Department; the Methuen (MA) Police Department; the Lowell (MA) Police Department; and the Maine State Police.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Walsh.

            Agencies participating in this investigation are part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).  OCDETF was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and is the keystone of the Department of Justice’s drug reduction strategy.  Today, OCDETF combines the resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local law enforcement.  The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking organizations, transnational criminal organizations, and money laundering organizations that present a significant threat to the public safety, economic, or national security of the United States.

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