Victor Viera-Chirinos, Tenderloin District Drug Trafficking, California 2024

Victor Viera-Chirinos, 42, extradited to US for Tenderloin District drug trafficking

A convicted felon has been extradited to the United States from Honduras in connection with a large-scale drug trafficking operation in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District. Victor Viera-Chirinos, 42, was handed over by authorities in Honduras on May 8, 2024, marking the fourth extradition in the case against 14 defendants accused of trafficking large quantities of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine base, and cocaine.

“Victor Viera-Chirinos thought he could evade consequences for his criminal conduct by fleeing to Honduras prior to his sentencing,” said U.S. Attorney Ismail Ramsey. “Let this case be instructive to people considering whether to distribute drugs in the Tenderloin District; the reach of the government is long and we are determined to assign the resources necessary to eradicate drug dealing from our neighborhoods and punish those who are found guilty of violating the drug trafficking laws.”

Viera-Chirinos was originally charged by criminal complaint on July 29, 2019, with participating in a conspiracy to distribute drugs in the Tenderloin. A federal grand jury indicted Viera-Chirinos on August 8, 2019, alleging he was one of 14 defendants trafficking large quantities of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine base, and cocaine. The charging documents describe how Viera-Chirinos was involved with the organization, including collecting “rent” for street-level dealers who paid the organization for housing while participating in the organization’s drug trafficking activities.

On January 27, 2021, Viera-Chirinos pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine base, and cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B). In his plea agreement, Viera-Chirinos described his role in the drug trafficking organization; specifically, Viera-Chirinos admitted that no later than June 2018 he entered into an agreement with other individuals to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine base, and cocaine to street-level dealers, who ultimately sold drugs in the streets of San Francisco, including in the city’s Tenderloin District. Viera-Chirinos also admitted that he made at least one delivery of drugs to a co-conspirator and described how he facilitated the sale of additional drugs to other members of the conspiracy. Viera-Chirinos further acknowledged in his plea agreement that the total weight of drugs attributable to him was an amount over 1775 kilograms of converted drug weight.

The district court scheduled Viera-Chirinos’s sentencing hearing for June 2, 2021. However, the defendant absconded from pretrial release and fled to Honduras approximately one week prior to his sentencing. Viera-Chirinos is scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim on May 15, 2024, to face sentencing for the charge set out in the August 2019 indictment.

“Victor Viera-Chirinos thought he could run from justice, but he could not hide from it,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Brian M. Clark. “As our sustained enforcement efforts in San Francisco continue, the economics of drug dealing no longer make sense for those peddling poison in the Tenderloin. This extradition makes it clear that we will use every tool at our disposal to hold you accountable because no one is beyond the grasp of the DEA and our law enforcement partners.”

Viera-Chirinos’s extradition is a significant blow to the large-scale drug trafficking operation in the Tenderloin District. It highlights the determination of law enforcement agencies to dismantle and disrupt drug trafficking networks, and to bring those responsible to justice.

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