NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A citizen of the Dominican Republic who last lived in Hartford was sentenced in New Haven on Friday to nine years in prison for trafficking fentanyl, a release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut reports.
Thirty-three-year-old Yoan Manual Delacruz, also known as “Oreja,” was identified by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Hartford Task Force as a large-scale drug dealer who was distributing kilogram quantities of fentanyl in the Hartford area, according to court documents and statements.
Investigators made a controlled purchase of 1.6 kilograms of fentanyl from Delacruz on May 24, 2022, prosecutors say. He was then arrested on June 13, 2022.
That day, a search of Delacruz’s Wadsworth Street apartment yielded two assault-style guns, a loaded assault-style magazine, two drum firearm magazines, 12 pistol magazines, seven boxes of ammunition, a suspected drug ledger and cash.
Prosecutors say a search of an apartment in the same building used by Delacruz as a stash location revealed two brick-shaped kilograms of fentanyl, a substantial amount of loose fentanyl, items used to process and package narcotics, three handguns, loaded magazines, a bag of ammunition and cash.
Delacruz has been detained since his arrest and pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl on March 20, 2023. He also faces immigration proceedings when he completes his prison term, prosecutors say.
The case was prosecuted through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Program, which identifies, disrupts and dismantles drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations through a prosecutor-led and intelligence-driven approach leveraging the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, according to prosecutors.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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