A Dominican man has been sentenced in a Boston federal court for his involvement in a significant fentanyl and cocaine distribution operation across southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.
Luis Alfonso Mejia-Diaz, also known as "El Bello," aged 56, received a sentence of 13 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release. U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young delivered the sentence. Mejia-Diaz had pleaded guilty on April 5, 2023, to charges of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute substantial quantities of fentanyl and cocaine.
Mejia-Diaz was initially charged in October 2020 alongside 14 others. The investigation began in March 2017 and identified him as a major distributor operating under the alias El Bello. He was considered a supply source for other conspirators. During the investigation, authorities seized 991 grams of fentanyl intended for Mejia-Diaz. At his arrest in October 2020, over a kilogram of fentanyl and a loaded firearm were found hidden inside an air compressor at his residence along with a kilogram press atop the compressor.
He is the thirteenth defendant to be sentenced in this case.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's New England Field Division; Fall River Police Chief Kelly Furtado; Colonel Geoffrey D. Noble, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; New Bedford Police Chief Paul Oliveira; Westport Police Chief Christopher A. Dunn; and Providence Police Chief Oscar L. Perez Jr. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ann Taylor and Katherine Ferguson from the Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case.
The operation was part of an effort by a multi-agency task force through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), which involves collaboration between federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. The OCDETF program aims to identify, disrupt, and dismantle serious drug trafficking organizations responsible for supplying illegal drugs nationwide.
More information about OCDETF can be found here: https://www.justice.gov/ocdetf/about-ocdetf.