Francisco Restrepo Mesa, Cocaine Trafficking, Massachusetts 2024

A massive cocaine trafficking operation has been dismantled in Revere, Massachusetts, with one of the key players behind bars for five years.

Francisco Restrepo Mesa, 55, was sentenced on July 10, 2024 by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper to 68 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release.

Mesa pleaded guilty in April 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, one count of possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, and one count of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine.

The investigation began in March 2023 when a co-conspirator retrieved two kilograms of cocaine from Mesa inside a Revere apartment he maintained as a drug stash location. A search was executed at Mesa's stash apartment, yielding 15.5 kilograms of cocaine and $190,750.

Following his arrest, Mesa told his wife during recorded jail calls that authorities had missed some of the drugs during their search. A second search warrant was executed at the Revere stash apartment, and an additional 1.6 kilograms of cocaine was recovered from a hidden compartment inside the bathroom wall.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Ferguson, Deputy Chief of the Narcotics & Money Laundering Unit and OCDETF Lead Task Force Attorney, prosecuted the case as part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation.

OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/revere-man-sentenced-over-five-years-prison-cocaine-offenses