Alleged MS-13 associate arraigned on charges of conspiracy and operating as a major drug trafficker
Daniel Rivera Diaz allegedly brokered drug deals for the gang while inside a Mississippi federal prison
MINEOLA, NY - Special Agent in Charge James Hunt, New York Division, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that an alleged MS-13 associate has been arraigned on charges of conspiracy and operating as a major drug trafficker for allegedly brokering drug deals from inside a federal prison in Mississippi.
Daniel Rivera Diaz aka JD Primo, 34, of Yakima, Washington, was arraigned today before Judge William O’Brien and charged with Operating as a Major Trafficker (an A-I felony) and two counts of Conspiracy in the Second Degree (a B felony). The defendant is due back in court November 13 and bail was set at $300,000 bond or cash. If convicted of the top count, the defendant faces up to 25 years to life in prison.
“In the drug world, there is always a source behind a source who supplies dealers with poison," said DEA Special Agent in Charge James Hunt. "Primo was a major heroin supplier for MS-13 in the northeast and today he will come face to face with the consequences of his crime.”
“This defendant allegedly facilitated the distribution of deadly heroin up and down the East Coast,” said Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas. “Today’s arraignment demonstrates the success of our unrelenting pursuit to get MS-13 members and their associates off our streets. This gang has brought violence and drugs into our community, but law enforcement stands united in our effort to dismantle MS-13.”
DA Singas said that beginning in May 2017, the NCDA and the Drug Enforcement Administration began an investigation into the alleged criminal activity of several MS-13 members, including Daniel Rivera Diaz a/ka/ JD Primo.
In January, the NCDA announced the indictment of 17 alleged members and associates of MS-13 on murder, conspiracy to commit murder and drug trafficking charges.
Fifteen other defendants charged in the indictment, in addition to Rivera Diaz, have been arraigned to date. One defendant has yet to be apprehended.
According to the indictment, Rivera Diaz, while incarcerated in the Adams County Correctional Center in Natchez, Mississippi, brokered at least two multi-kilogram heroin drug deals with the Mexican Mafia for the alleged leader of the MS-13 Sailors Clique, Miguel Angel Corea Diaz aka Reaper using a cell phone he smuggled into the prison. Corea Diaz and other indicted co-defendants then allegedly trafficked the heroin on Long Island, in the Bronx, in Baltimore, Houston, Long Branch, N.J., and Jefferson County, Texas.
The Nassau County District Attorney thanks the following agencies for their assistance in this investigation:
- Anne Arundel County Police Department (Maryland)
- Bedford County Commonwealth Attorney (Virginia)
- Bedford County Sheriff’s Office (Virginia)
- Drug Enforcement Administration Houston Division
- Drug Enforcement Administration Long Island District Office
- Drug Enforcement Administration San Salvador Country Office
- Drug Enforcement Administration Washington, D.C. Division
- Federal Bureau of Investigation Baltimore
- Federal Bureau of Investigation Long Island Gang Task Force
- Federal Bureau of Investigation Newark
- Federal Bureau of Investigation New York
- Homeland Security Investigations
- Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office (Texas)
- Maryland State Police
- Maryland State’s Attorney, Harford County
- Maryland State’s Attorney, Prince George’s County
- Nassau County Police Department
- Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York
- Prince George’s County Police Department (Maryland)
- Suffolk County Police Department
- United States Attorney’s Office, Baltimore
- United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York
- United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York
Members of the Special Operations, Narcotics and Gang Bureau are prosecuting this case. Christopher Graziano, Esq. represents the defendant.
The charges are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless found guilty.
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