Rosario Zamora Rojo, Fentanyl and Methamphetamine Trafficking, California 2023

A Sacramento man has been sentenced to 9 years in prison for his role in a massive fentanyl and methamphetamine trafficking operation, federal authorities announced Thursday.

Rosario Zamora Rojo, 41, of Sacramento, was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd to nine years in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine, Acting U.S. Attorney Kimberly A. Sanchez announced.

According to court documents, Rosario Zamora Rojo was a source of supply to a drug trafficking organization that was responsible for importing tens of thousands of fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone ‘M-30’ pills from Mexico and distributing them in northern California and elsewhere between May 2019 and January 2021.

In November 2020, Zamora Rojo supplied a pound of methamphetamine to one of the organization’s leaders, co-defendant Jose Lopez-Zamora, which law enforcement later seized from one of the organization’s distributors. After supplying this methamphetamine, Zamora Rojo moved to Mexico. In December 2020, Zamora Rojo supplied thousands of fentanyl-laced M-30 pills to the organization and also gave the organization access to his storage unit in Sacramento to store the pills.

Law enforcement later searched Zamora Rojo’s storage unit and seized more than 13,000 fentanyl M-30 pills, methamphetamine, heroin, and six firearms.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Yuba-Sutter Narcotic and Gang Enforcement Task Force (NET 5), the California Highway Patrol, the Butte Interagency Narcotics Task Force (BINTF), the Tri-County Drug Enforcement Team (TRIDENT), the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, the Sacramento Police Department, the Roseville Police Department, the Manteca Police Department, the Yuba City Police Department, and the West Sacramento Police Department.

The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.

Fourteen other co-defendants have pleaded guilty, and ten have been sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from 19 months to 27 years. Jose Aguilar Saucedo is scheduled to be sentenced on July 28, 2025, and Luis Lopez Zamora and Sandro Escobedo are scheduled to be sentenced in August 2025. Leonardo Flores Beltran is scheduled to be sentenced in October 2025, and Erika Gabriela Zamora Rojo is scheduled to be sentenced in December 2025.

Mandatory Facts:

Defendant: Rosario Zamora Rojo
Criminal Charges: Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine
City and State: Sacramento, California
Date: Thursday, (no specific date mentioned in source)
Sentence: 9 years in prison
No dollar amounts mentioned