United States Drug Enforcement Administration

BOSTON – A Braintree man has been sentenced in federal court in Boston for leading a large-scale drug trafficking organization (DTO) that distributed fentanyl sourced from Latin America.

Jonathan Melendez Decatro, a/k/a “Jacha,” 32, of Braintree, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to 10 years in prison and five years of supervised release. In January 2025, Melendez Decatro pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. Melendez Decatro was indicted in June 2023.  

In 2019, Melendez Decatro was identified as the leader of a large-scale DTO operating in the Brockton area, who sourced narcotics directly from Colombia, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. On two dates in 2021, packages intended for Melendez Decatro were intercepted by law enforcement and each found to contain a kilogram of cocaine. Additionally, on several dates in the spring of 2023, Melendez Decatro conspired with an individual who resided in the Dominican Republic to distribute 1.5 kilograms of fentanyl to another individual in Braintree. It was later determined that the purity of the fentanyl ranged from 54% to 79% and also contained xylazine. During of search of Melendez Decatro’s residence, over $11,000 in drug proceeds and clothing worn during the fentanyl transactions were recovered. 

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England; Kimberly Milka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration in Bogota; United States Postal Inspection Service; Massachusetts State Police; and the Brockton Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey E. Weinstein of the Criminal Division prosecuted the case. 

This operation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.