The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut issued a press release on Wednesday, sentencing a Meriden man to 12 years and 11 months in prison for leading a multi-state drug trafficking conspiracy.
Bridgeport court sentenced Joel Cordero, 45, for trafficking heroin and fentanyl in Connecticut and Massachusetts. The court will release Joel Cordero under supervision for five years after he serves his prison sentence.
Court documents and statements reveal that in October 2016, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Hartford Task Force initiated an investigation into Cordero’s organization, suspecting it of trafficking large quantities of heroin, fentanyl, and other illegal drugs in Connecticut and western Massachusetts.
Prosecutors say the investigation used court-authorized wiretaps, controlled purchases of drugs, and physical monitoring to discover that Cordero and his friends were acquiring large amounts of heroin and fentanyl from out-of-state suppliers.
A number of locations, including an apartment on Collins Street in Hartford where several of the organization’s members lived, housed the heroin and fentanyl. Prosecutors stated that they distributed the pills in Hartford, Springfield, and Holyoke, Massachusetts.
Reports indicate a high level of drug activity at the Neighborhood Supermarket on Farmington Avenue in Hartford.
According to investigators, members of the organization possessed and used weapons in conjunction with drug trafficking.
According to prosecutors, during the investigation, law enforcement executed 12 search warrants in Connecticut and Massachusetts, collecting approximately 10 kilograms of heroin and fentanyl, much of which was packaged for resale in hundreds of thousands of smaller bags. Investigators also confiscated a significant amount of xylazine, an animal tranquilizer that drug traffickers combine with heroin and fentanyl.
Authorities say they took Cordero and his colleagues into custody with seven firearms, gun magazines, several rounds of ammunition, and a bulletproof vest in addition to the drugs. Following the investigation, authorities charged fourteen people with a variety of drug, weapons, and immigration charges.
Since his arrest on June 29, 2017, Cordero has been in custody. On October 24, he pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and one kilogram or more of heroin.
The DEA Hartford Task Force consists of members from the DEA Hartford Resident Office, the Connecticut State Police, and the Bristol, Hartford, East Hartford, Enfield, Manchester, Middletown, New Britain, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield, and Windsor Locks police departments. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the United States Marshals Service all helped with the inquiry.
The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Program, according to prosecutors, identifies, disrupts, and dismantles drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations through prosecutor-led and intelligence-driven strategies that leverage the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement.
