Mexican and El Salvadoran Nationals Sentenced for Drug Trafficking Conspiracy in the District of Columbia

            Erik Rivera Garcia, 29, of Mexico, and Vladimir Roque Ceron, 33, of El Salvador, were sentenced this week for participating in a drug trafficking conspiracy that sold fentanyl and kilogram quantities of cocaine into the Washington, D.C. area, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Scott of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, and Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the DEA Washington Division.

            Both Rivera Garcia and Roque Certon were previously charged in a multi-defendant indictment, returned September 1, 2023, alleging a drug conspiracy and various firearms and drug distribution counts.

            Rivera Garcia pleaded guilty on March 13, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. Rivera Garcia was sentenced Wednesday to 62 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge John D. Bates, who also ordered him to serve four years of supervised release.

            Roque Ceron pleaded guilty March 5, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl and a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine. Judge Bates sentenced Roque Ceron today to 14 months in prison and three v  years of supervised release.

            According to court documents, Rivera Garcia served as armed “protection” for the drug trafficking conspiracy which sold large quantities of cocaine and other drugs in the D.C. region from at least March 2023 to August 8, 2023. On at least two occasions, Rivera Garcia accompanied one or more co-conspirators for cocaine transactions totaling more than four kilograms of cocaine.

            First, on August 8, 2023, Rivera Garcia served as protection for a sale of approximately 515 grams of cocaine. Then, on August 18, 2023, Rivera Garcia arrived in a vehicle with other co-conspirators when they were arrested. Agents recovered from the area where Rivera Garcia was seated a bag containing approximate weight of 3.6 kilograms of cocaine and a.38 caliber revolver, loaded with five .38 caliber rounds in the cylinder. Another co-conspirator in the vehicle was found with a privately manufactured Polymer 80 semiautomatic pistol with a 30-round extended magazine containing 22 rounds of 9mm ammunition with one round in the chamber.

            Meanwhile, Roque Ceron directly sold 197 grams of cocaine and 111 pills containing fentanyl with an aggregate weight of 11.62 grams to confidential sources from March 22, 2023 to June 1, 2023, on five separate occasions. DEA laboratory analysis confirmed that the pills and the powder purchased from Roque Ceron contained fentanyl and cocaine, respectively. All of the pills sold by Roque Ceron were found to contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl (more than 2 mg/per tablet).

            Both Rivera Garcia and Roque Ceron were unlawfully present in the United States during the offenses. 

            This investigation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

            This case was investigated by the DEA’s Washington Field Division and the FBI’s DC Safe Streets Task Force with assistance from the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Metropolitan Police Department.

            This case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy J. Coley and Ernesto J. Alvarado with the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

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