Honduran national suspected of dealing fentanyl extradited to U.S. to face Bay Area charges
A Honduran national suspected of being involved in the distribution of fentanyl in the Bay Area was extradited to the U.S. this week to face drug dealing charges, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
Javier Marin-Gonzalez, 25, then a resident of Oakland, was originally indicted in August 2023 on felony charges of drug dealing for being in possession of 40 grams or more of fentanyl.
At the time, the FBI learned he had traveled back to Honduras. Authorities in both the U.S. and Honduras worked to get him arrested and sent back to this country, and he was returned on Wednesday.
If convicted, Marin-Gonzalez is facing a maximum sentence of 40 years in federal prison, a fine of $5 million, and a lifetime of supervised release, according to prosecutors.
Marin-Gonzalez's extradition marks the fifth time alleged drug dealers from Honduras have been brought back to the U.S. Department of Justice's Northern District of California office to face charges, prosecutors said.
Multiple defendants based in the East Bay have had cases related to traveling into the Tenderloin district of San Francisco to engage in the dealing, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Last November, U.S. Attorney Ismail Ramsey announced "All Hands on Deck," a multi-agency attack on drug dealing in the Tenderloin, a neighborhood ravaged by the opioid epidemic.
At the time, Ramsey said, "our drug crisis has been fueled in part because selling fentanyl has become a lucrative vocation for people who have found our neighborhoods, and principally the Tenderloin District, to be a convenient and risk-free marketplace."
"We remain steadfast in our commitment to hold accountable drug traffickers operating in the Tenderloin," said U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency Special Agent in Charge Bob Beris in a statement released by the DOJ on Thursday. "The extradition of Marin-Gonzales is another example of how strong global partnerships keep our communities safe."