15 Defendants Prosecuted as Part of HOPE Initiative Which
Seeks to Reduce the Number of Opioid-Related Deaths in New Mexico
ALBUQUERQUE – Fourteen residents of Las Cruces, N.M., and a
Mexican national are facing federal heroin trafficking charges as the result of
a two-year multi-agency investigation into Jesus Salvador Otero-Martinez, 32,
of Ciudad Juarez, the alleged source of heroin supply for numerous street-level
heroin traffickers in Las Cruces. The
investigation culminated today when 13 of the defendants were arrested in Las
Cruces by teams of federal, state, county and local law enforcement officers
during an early morning law enforcement operation. During the course of the investigation, law
enforcement authorities arrested 24 Las Cruces residents on various state
charges. Otero-Martinez is one of the
two federal defendants who was were arrested during today’s law enforcement
operation, and is considered a fugitive.
U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson, 3rd Judicial District
Attorney Mark D’Antonio, Special Agent in Charge James C. Langenberg of the
FBI’s Albuquerque Division, Special Agent in Charge Kyle W. Williamson of the
DEA’s El Paso Division, Special Agent in Charge Jack P. Staton of Homeland
Security Investigations (HSI) in El Paso, and Captain Bobby Holden of the HIDTA
Regional Interagency Drug Task Force/Metro Narcotics Task Force, announced the
results of the investigation, which was designated as part of the Organized
Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program. OCDETF is a nationwide Department of Justice
program that combines the resources and unique expertise of federal agencies,
along with their local counterparts, in a coordinated effort to disrupt and
dismantle major drug trafficking organizations.
The charges against the defendants are the result of an
investigation that began in 2016, and targeted Otero-Martinez, the alleged
source of supply for a heroin trafficking operation that allegedly continuously
provided heroin to couriers who smuggled heroin in their body cavities from
Ciudad Juarez, into El Paso, Texas, and Las Cruces, where it was delivered to
street-level dealers. According to court
filings, the defendants used social media messaging platforms to facilitate
their heroin trafficking activities.
During the course of the investigation, law enforcement authorities
seized approximately 1.17 kilograms of heroin, $6,150.00 in cash, nine
firearms, and 465 cartridges of various calibers of ammunition.
On Aug. 22, 2018, a federal grand jury returned four federal
indictments charging 15 defendants with conspiracy and heroin trafficking
offenses. Otero-Martinez is charged in
each of the four federal indictments with participating in heroin trafficking
conspiracies. The conspiracy counts in
the four federal indictments include detailed “overt act” sections that
describe the manner in which Otero-Martinez and his co-conspirators allegedly
used social media messaging platforms to negotiate numerous heroin transactions
and to facilitate their heroin trafficking activities. The conspiracy counts also detail how couriers
allegedly obtained heroin from Otero-Martinez in Juarez; smuggled the heroin
into the United States through El Paso; and delivered the heroin to purchasers,
including undercover agents and individuals cooperating with law enforcement
authorities, in Las Cruces.
The 13 federal defendants who were arrested today will make
their initial appearances in federal court in Las Cruces tomorrow morning.
The state defendants have been charged in criminal
complaints filed by the 3rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office in the 3rd
Judicial District Court for the State of New Mexico.
These cases were investigated by the FBI, DEA, HSI and the
HIDTA Regional Interagency Drug Task Force/Metro Narcotics Task Force. The New Mexico State Police, Las Cruces
Police Department and Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office assisted with today’s
law enforcement operation.
The HIDTA Regional Interagency Drug Task Force/Metro
Narcotics Task Force is comprised of officers from the Las Cruces Police
Department, the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, HSI and the New
Mexico State Police. The High Intensity
Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program was created by Congress with the
Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. HIDTA is a
program of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) which
provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies
operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the
United States and seeks to reduce drug trafficking and production by
facilitating coordinated law enforcement activities and information sharing.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces
Branch Office are prosecuting the federal cases as part of the New Mexico
Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative. The HOPE Initiative was launched in January
2015 by the UNM Health Sciences Center and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in
response to the national opioid epidemic, which has had a disproportionately
devastating impact on New Mexico. Opioid
addiction has taken a toll on public safety, public health and the economic
viability of our communities. Working in
partnership with the DEA, the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability
Initiative, Healing Addiction in our Community (HAC), the Albuquerque Public
Schools and many other community stakeholders, HOPE’s principal goals are to
protect our communities from the dangers associated with heroin and opioid
painkillers and reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in New Mexico.
The HOPE Initiative is comprised of five components: (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment;
(3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning. HOPE’s law enforcement component is led by
the Organized Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DEA in
conjunction with their federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement
partners. Targeting members of major
heroin and opioid trafficking organizations for investigation and prosecution
is a priority of the HOPE Initiative.
Learn more about the New Mexico HOPE Initiative at
http://www.HopeInitiativeNM.org (link is external).
SUMMARY OF CHARGES IN FEDERAL INDICTMENTS
INDICTMENT: United States v. Otero-Martinez, Silva, et al.,
18-CR-2754-RB
Charges: Count 1 of
the Indictment charges Jesus Salvador Otero-Martinez, Alfred Silva and Joseph
Gonzalez with participating in a heroin trafficking conspiracy. The statutory penalty for a conviction on
this charge is a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 40 years in
prison and a $5 million fine. Count 2
charges Silva, who has a prior felony conviction for distributing a controlled
substance, with being a felon in possession of ammunition. The statutory penalty for a conviction on
this charge is a maximum of ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Defendants: Jesus
Salvador Otero-Martinez, 32, Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, has yet to be arrested and
is considered a fugitive. Alfred Silva,
34, was arrested on June 1, 2018, on a related charge, and Joseph Gonzalez, 23,
was arrested this morning.
INDICTMENT: United States v. Otero-Martinez, DeLeon, et al.,
18-CR-2755-RB
Charges: Count 1 of
the Indictment charges Otero-Martinez, Erik DeLeon, Matthew Torres, and Donnie
Edward Baca with participating in a heroin trafficking conspiracy. The statutory penalty for a conviction on
this charge for Otero-Martinez, DeLeon and Torres is a mandatory minimum of
five years and a maximum of 40 years in prison and a $5 million fine; for Baca,
the penalty is a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Count 2 charges DeLeon and Baca with
distributing heroin. The statutory
penalty for a conviction on this charge is a maximum of 20 years in prison and
a $1 million fine.
Defendants:
Otero-Martinez has yet to be arrested and is considered a fugitive. Erik DeLeon, 27, Matthew Torres, 33, and
Donnie Edward Baca, 26, were arrested this morning.
INDICTMENT: United States v. Otero-Martinez, Romero, et al.,
18-CR-2756-RB
Charges: The
single-count Indictment charges Jesus Salvador Otero-Martinez, Brenda Romero,
Nathan Gonzales, Desiree M. Vallejos, Samantha M. Ybarra-Ochoa, Elaine Zubiran
and Misty A. Baca with participating in a heroin trafficking conspiracy. The statutory penalty for a conviction on
this charge for Otero-Martinez, Romero, Gonzales, Vallejos, Ybarra-Ochoa, and
Zubiran is a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 40 years in
prison; for Baca, the penalty is a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $1
million fine.
Defendants:
Otero-Martinez has yet to be arrested and is considered a fugitive. Brenda Romero, 39, Nathan Gonzales, 32,
Desiree M. Vallejos, 29, Misty A. Baca, 36, were arrested this morning; and
Samantha M. Ybarra-Ochoa, 26, surrendered to the FBI this morning. Elaine Zubiran, 27, was arrested on state
charges on Aug. 17, 2018, and will be transferred into federal custody to face
the charge in the indictment.
INDICTMENT: United States v. Otero-Martinez, Crespin, et
al., 18-CR-2757-RB
Charges: Count 1 of
the Indictment charges Otero-Martinez, Michael Crespin, Gabriel Soltero, and
Gerardo Zamarripa with participating in a heroin trafficking conspiracy. The statutory penalty for a conviction on
this charge for Otero-Martinez, Crespin and Soltero is a mandatory minimum of
five years and a maximum of 40 years in prison and a $5 million fine; for
Zamarripa, the penalty is a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
Count 2 charges Soltero and Crespin with
possessing heroin with intent to distribute, and Count 3 charges Crespin and
Zamarripa with the same offense. The
statutory penalty for a conviction on this charge is a maximum of 20 years in
prison and a $1 million fine.
Defendants:
Otero-Martinez has yet to be arrested and is considered a fugitive. Michael Crespin, 60, and Gabriel Soltero, 35,
were arrested this morning. Gerardo
Zamarripa, 32, has yet to be arrested and is considered a fugitive.
Fugitives: Photos of
the fugitives, Jesus Salvador Otero-Martinez and Gerardo Zamarripa, are
attached to this press release.
Individuals with information about the whereabouts of Otero-Martinez or
Zamarripa are asked to contact the FBI at 505-889-1300 or tips.fbi.gov.
Charges in indictments and criminal complaints are only
accusations. Defendants are presumed
innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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