The Bronx NY: DEA "Operation Getting Paid" Indicts 22 in Heroin/ Fentanyl Ring

Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: ABC News and BronxNews12

           Alleged Mexican drug trafficker tied to Sinaloa cartel indicted on fentanyl charges

Roberto Gonzalez Franco of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, is charged with two other defendants as a major trafficker, meaning he could get life in prison if convicted.

The alleged Mexican drug trafficker tied to the Sinaloa cartel is among 22 people indicted Wednesday on charges they distributed heroin and fentanyl along a supply route from Mexico to New York.

Twenty-two people have been indicted on charges related to distributing heroin and fentanyl in the Bronx. Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark says three of the defendants are charged with operating as a major trafficker, which carries a maximum of life in prison, if convicted.

The 20-month investigation yielded more than 50 pounds of fentanyl destined for the Bronx and elsewhere in the Northeast.

“This organization allegedly spanned street dealers in the South Bronx to significant suppliers in Mexico linked to the Sinaloa cartel,” Clark said in prepared remarks. “These indictments charge traffickers whose poison kills an average of 20 Bronxites a month.”

According to the investigation, the defendants were part of two different groups that trafficked several kilograms of fentanyl and heroin monthly and sold it in bulk to distributors in the Bronx.

DEA Special Agent Ray Donovan says “Operation Getting Paid” isn’t over yet.“There are loose ends. There are individuals we are still looking for," he says. "Fentanyl is the deadliest threat facing communities nationwide."

District Attorney Clark says 17 of the 22 defendants were arrested – most of them during a takedown on May 28 that yielded drugs and weapons.

"This case provides a bird's eye view of how the Sinaloa Cartel's operation and transportation network brings heroin, fentanyl, and death to New York City doorsteps and users throughout the Northeast," said Raymond Donovan, special agent in charge of the DEA's New York Field Office.

Roberto Gonzalez Franco, of Los Mochis, Mexico, is said to have been the supervisor of the shipment from Mexico to Chicago and is accused of managing the Cicero Hotel transshipment point for the Sinaloa Cartel.

According to the indictment, Gonzlez Franco supplied 50 pounds of fentanyl seized from a hidden compartment in a vehicle as it drove from Chicago en route to the Bronx and other locations.  The source of the fentanyl is believed to have been the Sinaloa cartel.

"This organization allegedly spanned street dealers in the South Bronx to significant suppliers in Mexico linked to the Sinaloa cartel," Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said. "These indictments charge traffickers whose poison kills an average of 20 Bronxites a month."

The investigation began with a probe of drug dealing in the McKinley Houses in the Bronx, where investigators discovered glassines of heroin with the stamp "PAID" and glassines of heroin/fentanyl mix stamped "PRICELESS."

The defendants were part of two different groups that trafficked several kilograms of fentanyl and heroin monthly, the indictment said. The drugs were allegedly sold in bulk to distributors in the Bronx, Philadelphia, Albany and other cities in the Northeast and wound up on the streets in $10 and $20 packets.

Gonzalez Franco, the Mexican suspect, has a visa that allowed him to travel 75 miles from the southern border, but investigators claimed he actually traveled all over the country to set up distribution networks.

One of the dealers who was supposed to be charged in the case died of heroin intoxication.