Jose Manuel Chavez Zepeda, Cocaine Trafficking, California 2022

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A devastating blow to the city’s streets as two men face serious charges for their alleged role in a cocaine trafficking ring.

According to court documents, from at least April 22, 2016, until March 2022, Jose Manuel Chavez Zepeda, 54, of Carmichael, distributed cocaine in kilogram quantities that he obtained from a source of supply in Mexico connected to the Cartel Jalisco Nuevo Generación (CJNG). His associate Denis Zacarias Ponce Castillo, 37, of Sacramento, worked for Chavez as one of his larger sub-dealers and later as his “stash pad” manager.

In a shocking turn of events, Chavez and Ponce sold a half kilogram of cocaine to a confidential source in Sacramento in June 2021.

The case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Sacramento Area Intelligence/Narcotics Task Force (SAINT). Assistant U.S. Attorney David Spencer is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Chavez and Ponce face a maximum statutory penalty of 40 years in prison and a $5 million fine.

This alarming case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation, which aims to disrupt and dismantle the highest-level criminal organizations threatening the United States.

Chavez and Ponce are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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