SAN JUAN, PR—Special Agent in Charge Carlos Cases of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) San Juan Division announced the arrest of ADRIAN ROSA-COLON, JEHOVANIE MIRANDA-REYES, and JUAN A. BAUZA-SAEZ. On March 21, 2014, ADRIAN ROSA-COLON, JEHOVANIE MIRANDA-REYES, and JUAN A. BAUZA-SAEZ were taken into custody by the FBI and charged with carjacking.
A federal complaint states that on March 20, 2014, two adults and one minor went to the supermarket Brisas del Toa in Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, to purchase groceries. The victims exited the supermarket and began placing groceries into their vehicle. As the victims placed the groceries into their vehicle, ROSA-COLON, MIRANDA-REYES, and BAUZA-SAEZ approached the victims from behind, on foot. ROSA-COLON then placed a weapon, later identified as a black and gray pistol, into the stomach of Victim #1, and demanded her personal belongings and the car. MIRANDA and BAUZA-SAEZ stood beside Victim #2 and Minor Victim, likewise demanding the car from the victims.
The victims surrendered their personal jewelry items, valuables, and car keys to the three subjects. The three subjects then entered the victims’ car and drove away in it, leaving all three victims stranded at the supermarket. The victims immediately reported the crime to bystanders within the supermarket, who notified the Police of Puerto Rico (POPR).
POPR dispatch notified patrol officers in the Toa Alta area of the carjacking, including the description of the vehicle. Approximately 10 minutes after the carjacking, two POPR patrol officers in the vicinity of Toa Alta proceeded on PR-165 towards the Brisas del Toa supermarket. While en route to the supermarket, the officers observed the stolen vehicle being driven on PR-165. The patrol officers notified POPR dispatch that they observed the stolen vehicle and confirmed that it was the stolen vehicle. The POPR officers attempted to stop vehicle, and the subjects driving it refused to stop. The POPR officers initiated pursuit of the stolen vehicle, which traveled towards Dorado on PR-165.
During the POPR pursuit, the stolen vehicle lost control and crashed into a bystander vehicle on PR-165. ROSA-COLON, MIRANDA-REYES, and BAUZA-SAEZ exited the stolen vehicle, and began to flee into a wooded area. The POPR officers observed one of the subjects trip and fall while fleeing. As the subject fell, a weapon dropped from his waistband, later identified as a black and gray plastic/fake pistol, which he left behind.
A POPR helicopter was summoned to aid the search of the wooded area, and ROSA-COLON was apprehended immediately. The POPR patrol officers identified ROSA-COLON as the subject they had seen trip and fall while fleeing from the stolen vehicle, dropping the plastic/fake pistol. MIRANDA-REYES was apprehended by POPR in this wooded area during the early morning hours of March 21, 2014.
In the afternoon of March 21, 2014, BAUZA-SAEZ was turned over to the PRPD Toa Alta Precinct by his father, who informed the officers that his son was the third person involved in the carjacking that occurred the day before.
If convicted, the defendants face up to a maximum of 15 years in prison. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kelly Zenon and is being investigated by the FBI.
The public is reminded that a criminal complaint contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty. The U.S. government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Showing posts with label Puerto Rico. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Puerto Rico. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Fifteen Members of Alleged Drug Ring Arrested
NEWARK, NJ—Two members of an alleged drug trafficking
ring based in Elizabeth, New Jersey and operating throughout the
Northeast and Puerto Rico made their initial court appearances today,
U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Nelson Yordan, a/k/a Carlos, 27, of Waterbury, Connecticut, and Michael Rosario, 28, of Hagerstown, Maryland, were both charged by complaint with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. They made their initial appearances today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Falk in Newark federal court.
Yordan and Rosario are among 15 people arrested over the past three weeks by FBI agents and local police in connection with a drug trafficking organization responsible for distributing cocaine and heroin in the Elizabeth, New Jersey; Allentown, Pennsylvania; Hartford, Connecticut; and Hagersville, Maryland areas.
Also charged by complaint in connection with the alleged drug operation are: Roberto Rentas Negron, a/k/a El Duro; Kelmit Velazquez; Antonio Vazquez, a/k/a Panta; Fernando Duarte Castro; Julio Martinez Jr., 43, of Elizabeth; Lorenzo Carballo, 28, of Elizabeth; Hector Espinoza, a/k/a Will, 27, of Elizabeth; William Crespo, a/k/a Negro, 33, of Allentown, Pennsylvania; Melvin Gerena, a/k/a Flaco, 29, of Elizabeth; Marco Rodriguez, 26, of Elizabeth; Jerel Evans, a/k/a Gigante, 25, of Elizabeth; Robert Evans, a/k/a Gigante’s Brother; and Christian Reyes, a/k/a Enano. Each defendant is charged with one count of conspiring to distribute controlled substances.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Three of the defendants—Negron, Velazquez, and Vazquez—were arrested November 30, 2012, after FBI agents learned that Negron and Velazquez were plotting to murder a rival drug dealer who had reportedly stolen one kilogram of heroin from the organization. They made their initial court appearances before Judge Falk on December 3, 2012 and were ordered detained pending trial. After their arrests, many of their co-conspirators reportedly took measures to evade law enforcement, including changing cell phones and fleeing to other states.
As part of a coordinated operation, federal, and local law enforcement authorities subsequently located and arrested: Duarte Castro on December 3, 2012 in Newark; Carballo and Espinoza on December 13, 2012 in Elizabeth; Crespo in Allentown; Yordan in Hartford; and Rosario in Hagersville; on December 14, 2012. After fleeing to Puerto Rico, Rodriguez turned himself in to the FBI in San Juan on December 19, 2012.
Martinez and Gerena were previously arrested by the Elizabeth Police Department on unrelated charges and remain in state custody pending their transfer to face the federal charge. The other three defendants remain at large.
Between November 2011 and November 30, 2012, law enforcement was involved in an investigation into a drug trafficking organization (DTO) operating in the Elizabeth and Newark areas. The organization had people in Puerto Rico and elsewhere coordinating shipments of cocaine and heroin through the U.S. mails to New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. The narcotics would be concealed in items such as candles and children’s toys. Individuals in New Jersey would coordinate these shipments, process or “cut” the narcotics, and distribute the narcotics to locations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, and other locations.
Law enforcement in New Jersey identified Rentas Negron as the person who coordinated the acquisition of the drugs, the processing and packaging of the cocaine and heroin, the resale of the narcotics, and the distribution of the proceeds from drug sales. Vazquez frequently supplied narcotics to Rentas Negron. Reyes coordinated shipments of narcotics from Puerto Rico. The other members of the DTO cut, processed, packaged, stored, and distributed the narcotics and occasionally traveled to Florida, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, and other states in order to obtain cocaine to distribute in the Elizabeth area.
The counts with which Yordan, Rosario, Negron, Velazquez, Martinez, Carballo, Espinoza, Crespo, Jerel Evans, Robert Evans, Gerena, and Rodriguez are charged carry a minimum potential penalty of five years in prison and a maximum of 40 years in prison and a $5 million fine. The counts with which Vazquez and Reyes are charged carry a minimum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison and a $10 million fine. The count with which Duarte Castro is charged carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in charge Michael B. Ward; U.S. Postal Inspectors, under the direction of Phillip R. Bartlett; law enforcement officers from the New Jersey National Guard Counter Drug Task Force, under the direction of the Adjutant General, Brig. Gen. Michael L. Cunniff; the Union County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Theodore J. Romanko; and the Elizabeth Police Department, under the direction of Police Director James Cosgrove, with the investigation leading to the charges.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adam N. Subervi and David Eskew of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.
The charges and allegations contained in the complaints are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Nelson Yordan, a/k/a Carlos, 27, of Waterbury, Connecticut, and Michael Rosario, 28, of Hagerstown, Maryland, were both charged by complaint with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. They made their initial appearances today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Falk in Newark federal court.
Yordan and Rosario are among 15 people arrested over the past three weeks by FBI agents and local police in connection with a drug trafficking organization responsible for distributing cocaine and heroin in the Elizabeth, New Jersey; Allentown, Pennsylvania; Hartford, Connecticut; and Hagersville, Maryland areas.
Also charged by complaint in connection with the alleged drug operation are: Roberto Rentas Negron, a/k/a El Duro; Kelmit Velazquez; Antonio Vazquez, a/k/a Panta; Fernando Duarte Castro; Julio Martinez Jr., 43, of Elizabeth; Lorenzo Carballo, 28, of Elizabeth; Hector Espinoza, a/k/a Will, 27, of Elizabeth; William Crespo, a/k/a Negro, 33, of Allentown, Pennsylvania; Melvin Gerena, a/k/a Flaco, 29, of Elizabeth; Marco Rodriguez, 26, of Elizabeth; Jerel Evans, a/k/a Gigante, 25, of Elizabeth; Robert Evans, a/k/a Gigante’s Brother; and Christian Reyes, a/k/a Enano. Each defendant is charged with one count of conspiring to distribute controlled substances.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Three of the defendants—Negron, Velazquez, and Vazquez—were arrested November 30, 2012, after FBI agents learned that Negron and Velazquez were plotting to murder a rival drug dealer who had reportedly stolen one kilogram of heroin from the organization. They made their initial court appearances before Judge Falk on December 3, 2012 and were ordered detained pending trial. After their arrests, many of their co-conspirators reportedly took measures to evade law enforcement, including changing cell phones and fleeing to other states.
As part of a coordinated operation, federal, and local law enforcement authorities subsequently located and arrested: Duarte Castro on December 3, 2012 in Newark; Carballo and Espinoza on December 13, 2012 in Elizabeth; Crespo in Allentown; Yordan in Hartford; and Rosario in Hagersville; on December 14, 2012. After fleeing to Puerto Rico, Rodriguez turned himself in to the FBI in San Juan on December 19, 2012.
Martinez and Gerena were previously arrested by the Elizabeth Police Department on unrelated charges and remain in state custody pending their transfer to face the federal charge. The other three defendants remain at large.
Between November 2011 and November 30, 2012, law enforcement was involved in an investigation into a drug trafficking organization (DTO) operating in the Elizabeth and Newark areas. The organization had people in Puerto Rico and elsewhere coordinating shipments of cocaine and heroin through the U.S. mails to New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. The narcotics would be concealed in items such as candles and children’s toys. Individuals in New Jersey would coordinate these shipments, process or “cut” the narcotics, and distribute the narcotics to locations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, and other locations.
Law enforcement in New Jersey identified Rentas Negron as the person who coordinated the acquisition of the drugs, the processing and packaging of the cocaine and heroin, the resale of the narcotics, and the distribution of the proceeds from drug sales. Vazquez frequently supplied narcotics to Rentas Negron. Reyes coordinated shipments of narcotics from Puerto Rico. The other members of the DTO cut, processed, packaged, stored, and distributed the narcotics and occasionally traveled to Florida, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, and other states in order to obtain cocaine to distribute in the Elizabeth area.
The counts with which Yordan, Rosario, Negron, Velazquez, Martinez, Carballo, Espinoza, Crespo, Jerel Evans, Robert Evans, Gerena, and Rodriguez are charged carry a minimum potential penalty of five years in prison and a maximum of 40 years in prison and a $5 million fine. The counts with which Vazquez and Reyes are charged carry a minimum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison and a $10 million fine. The count with which Duarte Castro is charged carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in charge Michael B. Ward; U.S. Postal Inspectors, under the direction of Phillip R. Bartlett; law enforcement officers from the New Jersey National Guard Counter Drug Task Force, under the direction of the Adjutant General, Brig. Gen. Michael L. Cunniff; the Union County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Theodore J. Romanko; and the Elizabeth Police Department, under the direction of Police Director James Cosgrove, with the investigation leading to the charges.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adam N. Subervi and David Eskew of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.
The charges and allegations contained in the complaints are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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