East Bay Residents Charged In Drug Trafficking Scheme: Officials

San Francisco CA

17 December, 2020

1:38 PM

Description

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Seven East Bay residents were indicted by a grand jury on Wednesday, charging them with a scheme to supply drug users and dealers with fentanyl and heroin in San Francisco's Tenderloin District, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California announced. The charges were made in relation to a criminal complaint that was filed against an eighth East Bay resident who was also involved in the scheme, officials said. Charged in the indictment were Emilson Jonathan Cruz Mayorquin, 23, who also went by "Playboy", Leydis Y. Cruz, 42, Ivan Mauro Mayorquin, 35, Pamela Carrero, 20, who also was known by Nicole or Kendra, Ana Maldonado, 22, Adonis Torres, 33, and Mayer Benegas-Medina, 27, officials said in a news release. According to the indictment, all seven defendants conspired to distribute fentanyl been July and December and all seven were members of a drug trafficking organization that was run by Jonathan Cruz and his mother, Leydis, according to court documents. The indictment indicates that Cruz and his mother reportedly worked with other associates, including Cruz's significant other (Maldonado), Cruz's sister (Carrero) and her significant other (Torres) and another family member (Mayorquin) to engage in street drug sales and to supply drugs for multiple narcotics for resale to multiple other local drug sellers, the U.S. Attorney said. All of the defendants were believed to have lived in the East Bay but traveled to San Francisco's Tenderloin District to sell drugs, primarily fentanyl, on the street, the complaint states. "Parents and children who are sheltering in place against the COVID virus find it impossible to leave their own homes because of open-air drug use and drug trafficking by people who have come to the Tenderloin from outside the neighborhood," said U.S. Attorney David L. Anderson. "No neighborhood should be designated a law-free zone where dangerous drugs can be bought and sold with impunity." In court documents, government officials have alleged that members of the organization sold a variety of drugs —including powder fentanyl, counterfeit pharmaceutical pills containing fentanyl and heroin — to an undercover DEA agent. Court documents describe how members of the drug organization described the fentanyl being sold by the various colors they came in including blue, pink and yellow, authorities said. Officials also said that members of the drug trafficking organization also communicated in phone conversations which drugs they were selling, drug prices and how sellers could grow their business while also warning sellers of police presence in the Tenderloin District, authorities said Wednesday. According to officials, fentanyl is about 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, two out of three in each of the 46,802 opioid overdose deaths in the United States in 2018 involved a synthetic opioid such as fentanyl, the U.S. Attorney said. Local officials indicated that 300 people in San Francisco have died between January and August due to accidental fentanyl overdoses. In this case, members of the drug organization being charged sold $45,000 worth of drugs to the undercover agent, including more than 200 grams of powder fentanyl, according to the U.S. Attorney. Court documents describe how federal investigators used a variety of tools including physical surveillance, undercover purchases, and interception of phone calls placed on cell phones used by Cruz, Leydis, and Carrero, to further the investigation, authorities said. In one example, in an October phone exchange between Mayorquin and Cruz, Mayorquin reported that another individual wanted to work for Cruz as a street-level dealer. Cruz responded that he could keep the person busy. During the same call, Cruz asked Mayorquin to lend him (Cruz) an ounce of yellow fentanyl for resale. Court documents also describe how Mayer Benegas-Medina was arrested as part of the law enforcement operation that led to the indictment. Benegas was arrested in the Oakland residence where Ivan Mauro Mayorquin also was arrested. The indictment alleges Benegas used a cellular telephone to facilitate drug transactions, officials said. In addition to the seven defendants in the indictment, Gustabo Alfonso Ramos, 22, was arrested in Oakland and charged in connection with a drug sale that occurred near the corner of Franklin Street and Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco. According to the complaint, on October 8, Ramos distributed approximately four ounces of fentanyl in exchange for $4,000, according to the complaint. "Fentanyl and heroin are a scourge on our nation, poisoning and killing our family and friends. The trail of destruction in human lives and community blight inevitably leads to the doorsteps of the criminals illegally trafficking these narcotics. Anyone involved in destroying lives just to make an illicit profit by selling drugs in Northern California will not remain free," said DEA special agent in charge Tatum King.