Narcotics

The indictment alleges that from 2016, the drug trafficking organization called Hasta los Marcian distributed heroin, fentanyl, cocaine base (commonly known as crack), cocaine, marijuana, Tramadol and Clonazepam within 1,000 feet of the Enrique Zorrilla, Villa Evangelina, Vivamery, and Los Murales Public Housing Projects, the Cerro Gandía Ward and the Morovis Cemetery — all for significant financial gain and profit.

The strategy announced today leverages HSI’s extensive expertise in investigating cross-border criminal activity and its unique access to customs and financial data to prevent illicit shipments of drug precursor chemicals from reaching U.S. borders. Interrupting the precursor supply chain further prevents the synthesis of drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamines. 

According to court documents, special agents with the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Criminal Investigations Division identified Anthony Perez-Diaz aka Krosty, 37; Anthony Perez-Perez aka Mundo, 43; Jose Ublies-Rivera aka Wichy, 49; and Emanuel Giovanni Hernandez-Miranda aka Goldo, 30, as narcotics distributors in January.

The controlled substance was concealed inside six ice cream machines in a moving truck that arrived in Puerto Rico on a ferry from the Dominican Republic. The estimated street value of the seized contraband is $768,000. During a routine inspection of cargo from the marine vessel KYDON, officials discovered the bricks of cocaine.

On Sept. 11, 2023, HSI arrested Francisco Furiel Ramos-Dominguez, Coral Rivera-Mercado and Robeletti Ramos-Pagan for conspiracy to possess controlled substances with intent to distribute after a grand jury returned an indictment against them on Sept. 6, 2023.

On Sept. 7, HSI Houston, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas and various other federal, state and local law enforcement authorities announced charges brought against 39 individuals under the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Houston Violent Crime Initiative.

Nina Buendia, Patricia Garcia, Kayloni Guerra, Ernesto Martin, Michael Cory Norris and Mount Vernon Robinson of Sells and Travis Lopez of Covered Wells were among those indicted.

An investigation conducted by HSI Baltimore, the Drug Enforcement Administration in Washington, D.C. and the Maryland State Police, with help from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, resulted in a 23-year federal prison sentence for Scott Anthony Williams, 45, of Laurel, and a 12-year, six-month sentence for Taeyan Raymond Williams, 26, of Morgantown, West Virginia.

Pablo Talavera Jr., 35, of Pharr, was a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper. At his plea hearing Aug. 28, he admitted he lied to federal agents regarding his knowledge of his family’s involvement in drug trafficking.

On Oct. 19, 2022, Encinas-Obregon entered the United States from Mexico in a 2011 Audi A4 through the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales. Concealed inside the vehicle were 50 packages containing 23 kilograms of methamphetamines.