United States Drug Enforcement Administration

AUG 09 - HARTFORD, Conn. - Michael J. Ferguson Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration New England Division and Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Luis Cedillo, 33, last residing in Los Angeles, Calif., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford to 84 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release, for trafficking heroin.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on November 14, 2013, members of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Task Force followed a white Cadillac Escalade that Cedillo was driving to a store where Cedillo purchased items used to process and package illegal drugs.  After the Escalade traveled to a garage in Wolcott, agents approached Cedillo, secured him in handcuffs and received consent from the owner of the property to search the garage.  Agents observed that the vehicle, which was raised on a lift, had sheet-rock screws coming through the metal of the bottom of the car.  After a canine alert, agents located and opened a trap in the rear of the vehicle and retrieved approximately six kilograms of heroin.  Cedillo was arrested at the time.  A subsequent search of a residence in Danbury connected to Cedillo revealed approximately $400,000 in cash.  Cedillo has been detained since his arrest.  On May 19, 2016, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin.

This matter was investigated by the DEA’s New Haven Task Force, which includes participants from the New Haven, Hamden, West Haven, North Haven, East Haven, Branford, Ansonia, Derby and Meriden Police Departments, and the U.S. Marshals Service.