18 indicted in Milwaukee heroin trafficking conspiracy
MILWAUKEE — Eighteen defendants were charged with conspiring to distribute one or more kilograms of heroin in a federal indictment that was unsealed Tuesday, announced U.S. Attorney Gregory J. Haanstad, Eastern District of Wisconsin.
This investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Milwaukee Police Department (MPD), and the Wisconsin High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force. Assistance was provided by the following agencies: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigations, Wisconsin State Patrol, Wisconsin Department of Corrections; the Wisconsin sheriffs’ departments of Milwaukee, Waukesha, Kenosha counties; and the Wisconsin police departments of West Allis, Wauwatosa, Greenfield, Kenosha, and South Milwaukee.
Earlier Tuesday, federal, state and local law enforcement agents and officers arrested the following 17 defendants, who had been residing in Milwaukee, Kenosha, Wisconsin and Chicago: Justo Capeles, 45; Carlos David, 47; Jose E. Deanda, 34; Luis Diaz, 23; Isaac Elena-Leonardo, 25; Ramon Elizondo, 44; Brenda Fontanez-Masso, 43; Jorge Fontanez-Masso, 28; Emerito Quiles, 64; Edgardo Q. Rivera, 45; Edgardo S. Rivera, 27; Jason Rivera, 35; Omayra Rivera, 40; Jose Santos-Marti, 23; Jaime M. Vega, 19; Carlos Velasquez, 44; and Edgar Velez, 51. Defendant Eddie Rivera, 34, remains at large.
Agents and officers also executed a number of search warrants in the Milwaukee and Kenosha areas, seizing distribution quantities of heroin and cocaine, 16 firearms, and about $150,000.
“There is a heroin epidemic in Milwaukee and the surrounding areas,” said U.S. Attorney Haanstad. “The dangers of heroin trafficking and abuse have been escalating and present an urgent public safety and public health crisis. Investigations and prosecutions like this one are an integral component of the collaborative effort among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to deal with that public safety and public health crisis.”
“These arrests are yet another example of our collective resolve to relentlessly pursue and dismantle drug trafficking organizations from top to bottom,” said James M. Gibbons, acting special agent in charge of HSI Chicago. “HSI and its law enforcement partners are committed to stopping the networks that funnel dangerous drugs onto our streets and spread violence into our communities.”
DEA Milwaukee Assistant Special Agent in Charge Robert Bell praised this collaborative effort. “Working closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and joining resources with our state and local law enforcement partners make significant operational successes possible. Together, we will continue to hold violent gangs accountable for the opioid and heroin-related deaths and addiction they cause in our communities. At the same time, we will keep working closely with prevention and treatment specialists to raise the public’s understanding of the risks, reduce demand and provide paths to recovery.”
“The Milwaukee Police Department’s Narcotics Division, as part of the Wisconsin High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), is pleased to have worked with the DEA, U.S. Attorney’s Office, and other local law enforcement partners in this investigation, which is tied to overdose deaths,” said Milwaukee Police Department Captain Jeffery Micklitz. “We are optimistic that these arrests will have an impact on the heroin epidemic in and around the Milwaukee community and we urge those addicted to seek treatment.”
If convicted, the defendants face a mandatory minimum term of 10 years and up to a lifetime term of imprisonment.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mario Gonzales, Eastern District of Wisconsin, is prosecuting this case. The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
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