California Man Sentenced to 45 Months in Federal Prison for Fentanyl Trafficking Offense

Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that OSCAR ZAVALA, also known as “Manuel Garcia Martinez,” “Oscar Rangel Zavala” and “Oscar Zavala Rangel,” 43, of California, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport to 45 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for trafficking fentanyl.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in 2019, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force began investigating an organization that was distributing heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine in an around Bridgeport.  The investigation, which included court-authorized wiretaps, revealed that the organization had a connection to Mexican drug cartel traffickers, and that members of the organization were eager to receive a steady supply of narcotics from the west coast of the U.S.  On December 20, 2019, after members of the organization arranged to purchase a kilogram of heroin from a supplier, Zavala met an individual in a parking lot in San Diego and provided him with 1.1 kilograms of fentanyl in exchange for $27,000.

Zavala was arrested on February 10, 2020.  On that date, a search of a storage locker in San Diego that Zavala had access to revealed approximately six kilograms of cocaine.

Zavala has been detained since his arrest.  On February 23, 2021, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl.

This matter was investigated by the DEA’s Bridgeport HIDTA Task Force with the assistance of the DEA San Diego Field Division.  The DEA’s Bridgeport HIDTA Task Force includes personnel from the DEA Bridgeport Resident Office, the Connecticut State Police, and the Bridgeport, Norwalk, Stamford, Stratford, Milford and Danbury Police Departments.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen L. Peck and Lauren C. Clark through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations through a prosecutor-led and intelligence-driven approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.  Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.