Milton Joel Varela Arteaga, Fentanyl Trafficking, California 2023

A federal magistrate judge has ordered Milton Joel Varela Arteaga, a 27-year-old Honduran national residing in Oakland, California, detained pending trial on fentanyl trafficking charges, announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey; Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Tatum King; and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), San Francisco Field Division, Special Agent in Charge Brian M. Clark.

Arteaga was originally charged via a criminal complaint in November 2023. Among other things, the complaint alleges that:

• On May 11, 2023, law enforcement officers searched Arteaga’s Oakland residence and seized more than 1.3 kilograms of fentanyl and more than $70,000 in cash. In a post-arrest interview, Arteaga told officers that he regularly sold drugs in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco;

• On June 28, 2023, law enforcement officers stopped Arteaga in a car as it left the Oakland Airport and seized more than two kilograms of fentanyl and more than $12,000 in cash; and

• On November 29, 2023, federal and state law enforcement officers searched Arteaga’s Oakland residence and found more than half a kilogram of fentanyl in a black Mercedes that belonged to Arteaga and his partner and over $13,000 in cash in their bedroom.

All of the fentanyl seizures described in the complaint occurred while Arteaga was on pretrial release for state narcotics charges filed against him in 2022. Arteaga has been in federal custody since his arrest in late November 2023, and he was ultimately indicted by a federal grand jury on December 13, 2023, on three counts of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B)(vi).

“Tackling the scourge of fentanyl is a top priority for my Office,” said U.S. Attorney Ramsey. “Our efforts to disrupt the fentanyl trade take many forms, from prosecuting the dealers who peddle this poison on the streets of the Tenderloin to identifying, arresting, and charging their suppliers. We and our law enforcement partners will hold accountable those who sell or facilitate the sale of this deadly drug at every level.”

Arteaga was ordered detained by United States Magistrate Judge Peter H. Kang on January 12, 2024. His next scheduled appearance is a status conference before Senior United States District Judge Charles R. Breyer on January 31, 2024.

An indictment and a complaint merely allege that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, Arteaga faces a minimum prison sentence of five years and a maximum prison sentence of 40 years on each of the three counts on which he is indicted.

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