United States Drug Enforcement Administration

BOSTON – A Dominican man was sentenced in federal court in Boston for his role in a large-scale fentanyl and cocaine distribution operation that trafficked narcotics throughout southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Luis Alfonso Mejia-Diaz, aka “El Bello,” 56, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young to 13 years in prison and five years of supervised release. On April 5, 2023, Mejia-Diaz pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and 500 grams or more of cocaine.

Mejia-Diaz was charged in October 2020 along with 14 others. The investigation, which began in March 2017, identified Mejia-Diaz as a large-scale fentanyl and cocaine distributor who operated under his alias, El Bello, and served as a supply source for others in the conspiracy. During the investigation, 991 grams of fentanyl intended for Mejia-Diaz were seized. At the time of his arrest in October 2020, over a kilogram of fentanyl and a loaded firearm from a hidden compartment inside an air compressor in Mejia-Diaz’s residence were also seized in addition to a kilogram press from on top of the air compressor. 

Mejia-Diaz is the 13th defendant to be sentenced in the case.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; Fall River Police Chief Kelly Furtado; Colonel Geoffrey D. Noble, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; New Bedford Police Chief Paul Oliveira; Westport Police Chief Christopher A. Dunn; and Providence Police Chief Oscar L. Perez, Jr. made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ann Taylor and Katherine Ferguson of the Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case. 

The operation was conducted by a multi-agency task force through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply. More information on the OCDETF program is available here: https://www.justice.gov/ocdetf/about-ocdetf.