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ROCHESTER, NH – A Dominican man with a history of deportation is facing a lengthy federal sentence after admitting to running drugs in the Granite State. Joel Castillo-Soto, 35, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and illegally re-entering the United States.
The bust, a DEA operation spanning several months starting in early 2024, centered on a Rochester-area drug source moving multiple ounces of meth. Investigators discovered Castillo-Soto was the muscle behind the operation, delivering the product while his associate, Ariel Castillo-Solano, posed as a US citizen to front the deals.
Between October 2024 and January 2025, an undercover DEA operative and a cooperating source purchased over five pounds of meth from Castillo-Solano. The operation then escalated, with Castillo-Solano promising another 15 pounds of meth, 21 ounces of cocaine, and 40 grams of fentanyl for $69,000. The deal went down in a Seabrook parking lot on January 24, 2025. Castillo-Soto arrived in an Uber to make the delivery, and both he and Castillo-Solano were immediately arrested.
Records show Castillo-Solano previously pleaded guilty to a meth conspiracy back in 2016. Castillo-Soto, meanwhile, had already been deported from the United States. Sentencing is scheduled for June 25, 2026.
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