Authorities extradited Francisco Alberto López Reyes, known as “Francisco Fentanilo,” or Frank to the United States on 30 October 2024. He is accused of operating an online network for the sale and distribution of fentanyl and methamphetamine from the Dominican Republic, local media reported.
López Reyes was arrested on 29 September 2024 during a coordinated operation involving the Public Ministry, the National Drug Control Agency (DNCD), US Marshals, and strategic support from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). He is considered one of the key targets in the fight against fentanyl trafficking in the hemisphere.
Facing seven criminal charges, López Reyes is accused of participating in a criminal organization, conspiracy to traffic-controlled substances, and the commercialization of fentanyl. His alleged activities are linked to the deaths of nine individuals, including a member of the US Army. Additionally, he faces charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, violating Title 18 of the US Code, among other serious offenses that could result in severe penalties.
Currently, authorities have not found evidence that López Reyes distributed fentanyl within the Dominican Republic; the drug was reportedly sold online from the country but produced in India and distributed in the United States.
During the investigation, evidence collected from a search of López Reyes’s residence in Espaillat province included material from his iCloud account that contained child pornography.
Two other members of the criminal organization, Cynthia Onega and Robert Junior Ramos Henríquez, both US nationals, were also arrested and extradited due to their involvement in the network.
On 9 October 2024, judges from the Second Penal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice ordered the extradition after López Reyes opted for an expedited process to leave voluntarily.
López Reyes has prior convictions, having been processed in 2010 for possession of 99,285 units of synthetic drug pills.
The Homeland Security of the United States website explains Francisco Alberto Lopez Reyes aka Frank and 17 other defendants located in the United States, the Dominican Republic and India are charged for their involvement in a scheme to advertise, sell, manufacture and ship millions of deadly pills disguised as legitimate pharmaceuticals.
The counterfeit pills were purchased by tens of thousands of victims from fake online pharmacies run by Lopez Reyes and his co-conspirators. At least nine of the victims later died of narcotics poisoning. Federal authorities have seized nine website domains used by the defendants and their co-conspirators to sell counterfeit pills, four of which are named in the indictment. The case is assigned to US District Judge John P. Cronan.
The investigation revealed that Lopez Reyes led the enterprise, orchestrating and controlling every facet of the scheme from the Dominican Republic. With his co-conspirators, Lopez Reyes set up dozens of online pharmacy websites designed to appear legitimate in to lure customers into buying, at reduced prices, tablets of fentanyl, para-fluorofentanyl and methamphetamine disguised as real prescription medications, including oxycodone, hydrocodone, Adderall and Xanax, among others. Lopez Reyes also relied on others, including Sadiq Abbas Habib Sayyed aka Rakesh Sharma aka Jonathan Acosta; Khizar Mohammad Iqbal Shaikh; and Alba Gonzalez to sell counterfeit pills to Americans over the internet on the website curecog.com and through encrypted messaging platforms.
Read more:
Diario Libre
El Dia
US Homeland Security
31 October 2024