The 2 men were arrested in what officials say was Delaware’s largest heroin and fentanyl seizure. Photo by Sora Shimazaki of Pexels
Two New Castle men have been sentenced to prison, one for 10 years and one for 7, in a drug case involving more than $1 million of heroin, cocaine and fentanyl-laced pills.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Andrews sentenced Julian Rivera-Villa, 57, yesterday and his co-defendant, Ricardo Perez-Guillen, 41, on April 13, 2021. Rivera-Villa received the 10-year sentence and Perez-Guillen the seven-year.
Court records say Rivera-Villa and Perez-Guillen, both of Gloucester City, New Jersey, conspired to distribute 10 kilograms of heroin and about 14,000 fentanyl-laced fake Oxycodone pills.
The street value of the seized drugs was more than of $1 million. The amount of heroin seized is conservatively estimated at 1.4 million doses, a press release said.
Perez-Guillen was arrested Aug. 21, 2019 in New Castle, Delaware after selling a kilogram of heroin and 600 fake Oxycodone pills containing fentanyl. Rivera-Villa was arrested the same day outside the residence he shared with Perez-Guillen in Gloucester City.
Inside that residence, Drug Enforcement Administration agents and task force officers found 7 additional kilograms of heroin, 13,000 more fake Oxycodone pills and three kilograms of cocaine. They found another two kilograms of heroin located inside hidden traps behind the seats of a car registered to Perez-Guillen.
David C. Weiss, U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware, said this was the largest federal seizure of heroin and fake Oxycodone pills by Delaware law enforcement in recent memory,
“My office is committed to combatting the opioid epidemic by bringing to justice those most responsible for flooding our communities with deadly heroin and fentanyl,” he said. “We will continue to seek significant federal prison terms against those profiting off the addictions of others.”
“Poly-drug violators such as Rivera-Villa and Perez-Guillen are drug-traffickers that pose the greatest threat to our community,” said Jonathan A. Wilson, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Philadelphia Field Division. “I would like to thank all of our partner law enforcement agencies in Wilmington and Camden County, New Jersey that helped make these arrests possible.”
