10 indicted in deadly fentanyl smuggling ring from Mexico by Sacramento federal grand jury

A federal grand jury in Sacramento has indicted 10 people in connection with a massive drug smuggling operation based in Mexico that allegedly funneled tens of thousands of fentanyl-laced pills into the United States and caused numerous overdoses and several deaths in the capital region.

The 11-count indictment announced late Thursday by U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott says federal agents seized more than 20,000 counterfeit oxycodone tablets that contained the deadly drug fentanyl, as well as methamphetamine and cocaine.

“Wiretapped calls show awareness by at least some co-conspirators that these fentanyl pills had been responsible for multiple overdoses and overdose deaths in the area,” Scott’s office said in an announcement.

A previously sealed 94-page criminal complaint and affidavit says conspirators in the case warned against communicating by text message that could incriminate them if a customer died from using their pills.

“Just not let them text you, because one day one could go and the messages are there, dude,” one suspect said in a wiretapped phone conversation, according to the affidavit by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Matthew Clayton.

The affidavit adds that the defendant, Jose Lopez-Zamora, 26, of Sacramento, “acknowledged that two or three people had overdosed and died in Sacramento from pills he distributed or from pills similar to those he distributes.”

The investigation dates back to August 2019 and used wiretaps, undercover drug purchases, informants and searches of homes in Sacramento, West Sacramento, Yuba City and Manteca.

The indictment charges Lopez-Zamora and six other Sacramento residents — Leonardo Flores Beltran, 29; Christian Anthony Romero, 25; Joaquin Sotelo Valdez, 24; Sandro Escobedo, 32; Erika Zamora Rojo, 45; and Alejandro Tello, 22 — as well as Jason Lee, 48, of Sparks, Nevada; and Rudi Flores, 27, of Manteca with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

The 10 also are charged with fentanyl distribution or possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.

Additionally, Jose Aguilar Saucedo, 22, of Sacramento is charged with three counts of fentanyl distribution.

Court documents say agents tracked wire transfers of cash to cities in Mexico and that the pills were brought over the border at various times, including Thanksgiving ”because it was a public holiday and they believed that there would be less law enforcement scrutiny at the border.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office and prosecutors throughout the region have been cracking down on fentanyl cases because of a spike in deaths in recent years. The drug is designed to assist patients with chronic pain but is increasingly being used by drug rings to manufacture counterfeit oxycodone tablets.

This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 5:00 AM.