Thread: CA: 2 held in $1 million coke bust at Hayward center

http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/ci_5216984

2 held in $1 million coke bust at Hayward center

Confidential source helped DEA agents capture suspects

By Alejandro Alfonso, STAFF WRITER
Inside Bay Area
Article Last Updated:02/13/2007 02:42:13 AM PST

HAYWARD — Two men were arrested and $1 million in cocaine was seized last week when Drug Enforcement Administration agents received information about a drug deal in the Southland mall parking lot, DEA Special Agent Joycelyn Barnes reported Monday.
Agents also recovered two handguns.

Alonso Rodriguez-Castellanos, 27, and Francisco Torres-Felix, 43, both of Oakland, have been charged with three counts each of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, distribution of cocaine and carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime, Barnes said.

According to the criminal complaint, authorities learned of the deal when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement confidential source allegedly met with Rodriguez-Castellanos and a person referred to as John Doe on Sept. 21 at Oakland International Airport, to discuss conducting a future cocaine deal. The source was provided a sample of the suspected cocaine, which weighed approximately 4 grams, the complaint said.

Rodriguez-Castellanos then allegedly met with the source again on Feb. 6 at a Denny's restaurant in San Jose, where he told the source "they got 30 coming up," which the source understood to mean 30 kilograms of cocaine, the complaint stated. At the same meeting, Rodriguez-Castellanos allegedly said the kilos were coming from Guadalajara, Mexico, through Nogales and that he had tried a line the previous night and "got really high." The informant and Rodriguez-Castellanos allegedly agreed to $18,000 per kilo, the complaint said.

The next meeting between the source and Rodriguez-Castellanos happened Friday at the Motel 6 on Fontaine Road in San Jose, according to the complaint. Surveillance agents allegedly saw Rodriguez-Castellanos carrying a blue bag and walking to a room to meet with the informant. Rodriguez-Castellanos allegedly let the source sample some cocaine, and the source told him he would buy 20 kilos if they were all just like the sample, the complaint said.

According to the complaint, Rodriguez-Castellanos allegedly said he only had 15 kilos to sell at the time. He and the source then walked to a parking lot, where two undercover DEA agents allegedly showed Rodriguez-Castellanos $198,000 in U.S. currency and arranged a meeting later in a parking lot near Southland mall in Hayward.

After the meeting, DEA agents took custody of the "sample" kilo, which tested positive for cocaine.

At around 8 p.m. Friday, the source allegedly met with Rodriguez-Castellanos and talked about how to complete the deal, the complaint said.

A car drove up, and the driver — later identified as Francisco Torres-Felix — allegedly showed the informant two bags containing 7 kilos of cocaine each, the complaint said. After seeing the kilos, the informant gave a predetermined bust signal and agents moved in to arrest Rodriguez-Castellanos and Torres-Felix.

In the back seat of the car, agents recovered the cocaine and a loaded .25-caliber Beretta handgun that was in plain sight in the front passenger seat, the complaint said.

Both men were arraigned Monday in Federal Court in San Jose, Barnes said.


Alejandro Alfonso can be reached at (510) 293-2469 or aalfonso@dailyreviewonline.com.

Oakland man gets 15 years for drug, gun, immigration crimes
By Josh Richman
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 11/18/2009 04:02:48 PM PST
Updated: 11/18/2009 04:02:48 PM PST

An Oakland man has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to drug trafficking, gun and immigration charges, federal prosecutors said.

Francisco Torres-Felix, 41, was indicted in February 2007 on charges of conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, carrying a firearm during a drug trafficking crime, two counts of possession of a firearm by an alien, and illegal re-entry following deportation. He pleaded guilty in May to all counts and was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Whyte in San Jose.

In pleading guilty, Torres-Felix admitted to conspiring to and possessing with intent to distribute 15 kilograms of cocaine and carrying and possessing a .25-caliber semi-automatic pistol during that crime; he also admitted to possessing a .38-caliber semi-automatic pistol at other times and that he had returned to the United States illegally after having been deported.

Prosecutors say Torres-Felix had expected to receive about $270,000 for the cocaine, but he and another man were arrested in February 2007 at the scene of the attempted sale, a Hayward parking lot. His co-defendant, Alonso Rodriguez Castellanos, pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to possess with intent to deliver cocaine in January and was sentenced in August to four years in federal prison.

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