13 sentenced for heroin trafficking in Florida

Thirteen people, mostly Florida residents, have been sentenced for their roles in an international heroin trafficking ring, officials announced Tuesday.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office Middle District of Florida, Felix M. Lagunas, 42, of California, oversaw operations as 30 kilograms of heroin was brought into the U.S. from Mexico, and the further transportation of the drugs to Jesus Caraballo, 29, in Orlando.

Caraballo then gave a portion of the heroin to three other people to distribute in the Orlando area.

Angel Alicea, 29, of Tampa, took the rest of the heroin to the Tampa Bay area. There, Jose Jimenez, 29, of Tampa, and Jose Negron, 30, of Tampa, mixed in cutting agents to the drugs, packaged them and gave the drugs to street-level dealers who sold them in Tampa, St. Petersburg and other locations, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The prison sentences for the 13 people ranged from two years for a street-level distributor to 27 years for the ringleader, Lagunas, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. During the investigation, officials seized 6.5 kilograms of heroin, nine guns and approximately $600,000 in drug proceeds.

“This is a perfect example of the kind of multi-agency teamwork necessary to dismantle these complex conspiracies and bring criminals to justice,” Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan said in a release. “Our communities are safer today as a result of the work of this task force.”

“The hard work of our partners at the federal, state and local level helped to bring these violent offenders to justice and get them off our streets. The sentences handed down should send a clear message to traffickers and help to make Florida safer,” FDLE Commissioner Rick Swearingen said in the release.

The cases were investigated by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force which identifies, disrupts and dismantles serious trafficking operations. The FBI, the Tampa Police Department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office were involved in the operation.

Those sentenced were:

▪  Felix M. Lagunas, 42, of California was sentenced to 27 years

▪  Jose L. Jimenez, 29, of Tampa, was sentenced to 21 years and 10 months

▪  Jose Vaquez, 29, of Orlando, was sentenced to 12 years and seven months

▪  Jesus Caraballo, 29, of Orlando, was sentenced to 11 years and three months

▪  Raul Oriz, 40, of Orlando, was sentenced to 11 years and three months

▪  Freddie Resto, 59, of Tampa, was sentenced to 11 years and three months

▪  Deyvis L. Echevarria, 30 of Orlando, was sentenced to 10 years and one month

▪  Angel A. Alicea, 29, of Tampa, was sentenced to 10 years and one month

▪  Jose Villa, 27, of Tampa, was sentenced to 10 years

▪  Jose Negron, 30, of Tampa, was sentenced to 10 years

▪  Juan C. Lopez, 34, of Tampa, was sentenced to seven years

▪  Robert Kelly, 56, of Tampa, was sentenced to four years and nine months

▪  Rachel A. Thomas, 56, of St. Petersburg, was sentenced to two years

This story was originally published December 19, 2017 at 2:13 PM with the headline "13 sentenced for heroin trafficking in Florida."