Meth & Re-Entry: Dominican Dealer Pleads

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RELATED: Meth Ring Busted: Deported Dominican Dealer Pleads

ROCHESTER, NH – Joel Castillo-Soto, a 35-year-old Dominican national with a prior deportation, copped a plea in federal court today, admitting to trafficking methamphetamine and illegally re-entering the United States. He’s looking at serious time, with sentencing slated for June 25, 2026.

The DEA started sniffing around in early 2024 after getting wind of a guy moving multi-ounce amounts of meth around Rochester. The investigation quickly zeroed in on Ariel Castillo-Solano, who was posing as a US citizen, Jose Antonio Santiago. Between October and January, a DEA snitch and an undercover officer bought over five pounds of meth from Castillo-Solano. But the operation didn’t stop there.

Things escalated when Castillo-Solano agreed to supply another 15 pounds of meth, 21 ounces of coke, and 40 grams of fentanyl for $69,000. On January 24th, the deal went down in a Seabrook parking lot. Castillo-Solano told the undercover officer his “brother” – Joel Castillo-Soto – would handle the delivery. Sure enough, Castillo-Soto rolled up in an Uber with the drugs and was busted alongside Castillo-Solano.

This wasn’t Castillo-Solano’s first rodeo either. He already pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute meth back in 2016. Now, both he and Castillo-Soto are facing the consequences of flooding the streets with poison.