Joshua S. Levy, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts
A Dominican national has been sentenced in a Boston federal court for his involvement in a significant drug trafficking operation. Luis Alfonso Mejia-Diaz, also known as "El Bello," received a 13-year prison sentence followed by five years of supervised release. This decision was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young after Mejia-Diaz pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges related to the distribution and possession with intent to distribute substantial quantities of fentanyl and cocaine.
The case against Mejia-Diaz began with an investigation launched in March 2017, which identified him as a key distributor of fentanyl and cocaine in southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. He was arrested in October 2020 alongside 14 other individuals. At the time of his arrest, authorities seized over a kilogram of fentanyl, a loaded firearm hidden inside an air compressor at his residence, and equipment used for processing drugs.
Mejia-Diaz is the 13th individual to be sentenced as part of this investigation.
The sentencing 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. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ann Taylor and Katherine Ferguson from the Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit.
This operation was conducted under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), which involves collaboration between federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies aimed at dismantling serious drug trafficking networks.
More information about OCDETF can be found on their official website: https://www.justice.gov/ocdetf/about-ocdetf.