United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SAN FRANCISCO – In five related indictments, federal grand juries charged fifteen South Bay residents with crimes related to the distribution of narcotics including heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl in the San Jose area, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux.  In a press conference earlier today, U.S. Attorney Anderson announced all the charges were the culmination of a federal investigation—one of four simultaneous investigations into the movement of drugs from Mexico to the streets of the San Jose area.  

“These cases announced today provide insight into the ruthless capitalism of modern drug trafficking and the entire ecosystem of narcotics trafficking in Northern California,” said U.S. Attorney Anderson.  “Their allegations reflect drug trafficking from procurement, to transportation, to distribution to mid-level dealers, and all the way down to street level sales.  Countless individuals and entire communities suffer, but drug traffickers have no regard for the destruction caused in their path.” 
“Methamphetamine that is pure, potent and cheap has flooded the American market and drug trafficking organizations see an opportunity to profit. They utilize distribution hubs, like the Bay Area, to distribute their poison,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux. “As methamphetamine overdoses rise, the significant drug seizures in this investigation has undoubtedly saved lives. DEA will continue to target and to bring to justice these criminal organizations who traffic drugs in our community to keep Americans safe.”

The most recent indictment, filed January 21, 2021, charges Raudel Macias, Anthony Macias, Benito Macias, Oscar Macias, and Fawn Larance with various crimes in connection with an alleged conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl in the San Jose area.  According to the indictment, Raudel Macias is the central figure of the drug distribution organization, referred to in the indictment as the Macias DTO.  The indictment alleges the Macias DTO was a street-level drug distribution group, responsible for distributing narcotics to numerous street level customers and resellers in the Northern District of California. Raudel Macias allegedly handled all aspects of ensuring there was sufficient supplies of drugs for the group to distribute. Other members of the Macias DTO were responsible for delivering drugs to customers and collecting the proceeds.  Court documents describe how wiretap information from the Macias DTO investigation led investigators to several other defendants, described in court documents as higher-level distributors and drug sources. 
The remaining four indictments were filed December 1, 2020.  One indictment charges Francisco Ricardo Miranda, Jesus Alberto Rojas-Vega, Gelacio Perez-Rojas, Uriel Soto, and Leonel Cisneros-Sosa with crimes in connection with a cocaine distribution conspiracy.  According to the indictment, Miranda was the leader of the organization distributing the drugs.  Court documents describe how Miranda allegedly used his ties to suppliers in Mexico to sustain the flow of drugs into the Bay Area.  Miranda also allegedly obtained large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine from Southern California-based suppliers. 

Two of the December 1, 2020, indictments charge Juvencio Gamez Cid with crimes involving his efforts to obtain large amounts of methamphetamine. One indictment is based on Gamez Cid’s attempt to obtain 25 pounds of methamphetamine in June 2020.  Gamez Cid’s co-defendants in that case, Alfredo Villalobos Cisneros and Sergio Villalobos-Cisneros are charged with actually possessing the drugs that Gamez Cid sought to obtain and distribute.  According to court papers, the drugs were intercepted as they were being transported from Southern California. The other indictment charging Gamez Cid also charges Cristian Alvarado in connection with an alleged attempted delivery of five kilograms of methamphetamine.  When Gamez Cid was arrested on November 17, 2020, law enforcement officials seized approximately 6 pounds of methamphetamine from his residence, a pistol that had been reported stolen, ammunition, six cellular telephones, and fraudulent documents including a California driver’s license and a California identity card with fake names. 

The last indictment charges Jazmin Alejandra Cuevas-Capetillo with allegedly making the sale in San Jose of two kilograms of methamphetamine to a confidential source.

In sum, the defendants are charged with the crimes and face maximum penalties as indicted in the chart below:

An indictment and a criminal complaint merely allege that crimes have been committed, and each defendant must be presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.  The court may order additional terms of supervised release and restitution, if appropriate; however, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

The next court appearance for the defendants is scheduled for March 10, 2021, except Teo Magnana Sanchez, who is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on March 26, 2021.

The case is being prosecuted by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California. The investigation of this case was conducted by the DEA and the San Mateo County Narcotics Task Force.  Additional assistance was provided by the police departments of Redwood City, Santa Clara, and San Jose; the San Mateo County Narcotics Task Force; the Sheriff’s Offices of San Mateo County and Santa Clara County; the U.S. Administration of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Santa Clara County Specialized Enforcement Team.

This investigation and prosecution is part of OCDETF, which identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.