Via the US Justice Deptartment's website:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 10, 2016
Three Defendants Arrested in Connection with Illegal Fentanyl Pill Manufacturing Operation
JUN 10 (SAN FRANCISCO) -Kia Zolfaghari, King Edward Harris II, and Candelaria Dagandan Vazquez were named in a federal criminal complaint alleging that they conspired to run an illegal fentanyl pill manufacturing operation out of an apartment in the Sunset District of San Francisco, announced United States Attorney Brian J. Stretch and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge John J. Martin.
According to the complaint, which is now unsealed, Zolfaghari, 39, of San Francisco, is alleged to have operated a pill press in his apartment to manufacture counterfeit oxycodone pills, which did not contain oxycodone but instead were laced with fentanyl. Fentanyl, a Schedule II controlled substance, is a highly potent opiate that can be diluted with cutting agents to create counterfeit pills that attempt to mimic the effects of oxycodone, and can typically be obtained at a lower cost than genuine oxycodone. However, small variations in the amount or quality of fentanyl can have significant effects on the potency of the counterfeit pills, raising the danger of overdoses.
The complaint alleges that Zolfaghari sold over 1,500 fentanyl-laced pills, over the course of six transactions, to a confidential source working with law enforcement. The complaint further alleges that Harris, 34, of Oxnard, brokered these narcotics sales in a series of recorded calls with the confidential source and hand-delivered two of those purchases to the confidential source.
According to the complaint, Zolfaghari also sold the fentanyl-laced pills to customers through an online marketplace. The complaint alleges that Zolfaghari's wife, Vazquez, 38, of San Francisco, conspired with him to carry out his drug trafficking operation, and delivered packages of pills for mailing, purchased packaging supplies, and accepted payments for narcotics via her bank account.
Zolfaghari, Harris, and Vazquez were arrested this morning and made their initial appearance today in federal court in San Francisco before the Honorable Laurel Beeler, U.S. Magistrate Judge. Their next court appearance will be before Judge Beeler at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, June 13, 2016.
A complaint merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, the defendants face a maximum sentence of 20 years, and a fine of $1,000,000 or twice the gain or loss from their criminal activity, for each violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Rita Lin is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Amanda Martinez and Theresa Benitez. The prosecution is the result of a seven-month investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Internal Revenue Service, the United States Postal Service, and Customs and Border Protection, with assistance from the San Francisco Police Department and San Francisco Fire Department.
This case is the product of an extensive investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, (OCDETF) a focused multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force investigating and prosecuting the most significant drug trafficking organizations throughout the United States by leveraging the combined expertise of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
The same story covered at the Ventura County Star:
June 12, 2016
Oxnard man arrested in San Francisco fentanyl case
By From Wire Services
Authorities have arrested an Oxnard man and two other people in San Francisco accused of manufacturing and selling illegal fentanyl, a highly potent opiate.
Federal prosecutors say 39-year-old Kia Zolfaghari, of San Francisco, allegedly had a pill press in his Sunset District apartment he used to make fentanyl-laced pills he sold through an online marketplace as oxycodone.
U.S. Attorney Brian J. Stretch said Zolfaghari, his wife, 38-year-old Candelaria Dagandan Vazquez, and King Edward Harris II, of Oxnard, were arrested Friday after selling more than 1,500 pills to a person working for law enforcement.
Vazquez, of San Francisco, is accused of conspiring with Zolfaghari to carry out his drug trafficking operation, delivering packages of pills for mailing and accepting payments through her bank account. Harris allegedly brokered sales in a series of recorded calls with the confidential source, hand-delivering two of those purchases.
Fentanyl is a synthetic painkiller blamed for killing pop music star Prince in an overdose a few weeks ago. It is an opioid like heroin, but far more powerful, and it is blamed for a surge of overdose deaths in some parts of the country. It is often mixed with or substituted for heroin without a user's knowledge.
All the news coverage I could find basically just parrots the information in the DOJ release as above. The news media is repeating government press releases word for word and telling us absolutely nothing else. What else is new?
Oddly, these stories which were previously published about this at the AP's website and KSBY.com have both been removed.
Ritalin? Who is the defence attorney? Addie Rall? Mary Warner?
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