Fourth Honduran National Extradited to the U.S. in Prosecution of Tenderloin District Drug Trafficking Organization
Defendant admitted role in drug trafficking organization, then fled to Honduras prior to sentencing
SAN FRANCISCO – On May 8, 2024, the government of Honduras extradited convicted felon Victor Viera-Chirinos to the United States. The extradition marks the fourth in the case against 14 defendants alleged to have been trafficking large quantities of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine base, and cocaine in San Francisco. Information about the three defendants previously extradited can be found here.
“Victor Viera-Chirinos thought he could evade consequences for his criminal conduct by fleeing to Honduras prior to his sentencing,” said U.S. Attorney Ismail Ramsey. “Let this case be instructive to people considering whether to distribute drugs in the Tenderloin District; the reach of the government is long and we are determined to assign the resources necessary to eradicate drug dealing from our neighborhoods and punish those who are found guilty of violating the drug trafficking laws.”
“Victor Viera-Chirinos thought he could run from justice, but he could not hide from it,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Brian M. Clark. “As our sustained enforcement efforts in San Francisco continue, the economics of drug dealing no longer make sense for those peddling poison in the Tenderloin. This extradition makes it clear that we will use every tool at our disposal to hold you accountable because no one is beyond the grasp of the DEA and our law enforcement partners.”
Viera-Chirinos, 42, was originally charged by criminal complaint on July 29, 2019, with charges that he participated in a conspiracy to distribute drugs in the Tenderloin. A federal grand jury indicted Viera-Chirinos on August 8, 2019, alleging he was one of 14 defendants trafficking large quantities of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine base, and cocaine. The charging documents describe how Viera-Chirinos was involved with the organization. For example, the complaint alleges Viera-Chirinos collected “rent” for street-level dealers who paid the organization for housing while participating in the organization’s drug trafficking activities. Similarly, the charging documents describe how the defendant played a role in ensuring street-level dealers were supplied with drugs for trafficking activities.
On January 27, 2021, Viera-Chirinos pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine base, and cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B). In his plea agreement, Viera-Chirinos described his role in the drug trafficking organization; specifically, Viera-Chirinos admitted that no later than June 2018 he entered into an agreement with other individuals to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine base, and cocaine to street-level dealers, who ultimately sold drugs in the streets of San Francisco, including in the city’s Tenderloin District. Viera-Chirinos also admitted that he made at least one delivery of drugs to a co-conspirator and described how he facilitated the sale of additional drugs to other members of the conspiracy. Viera-Chirinos further acknowledged in his plea agreement that the total weight of drugs attributable to him was an amount over 1775 kilograms of converted drug weight.
The district court scheduled Viera-Chirinos’s sentencing hearing for June 2, 2021. In filings related to the defendant’s sentencing, the government described Viera-Chirinos as an experienced trafficker who, through his own admission, had been selling drugs in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District for years. The filing described how Viera-Chirinos’s conduct in the case demonstrated his “savviness as a trafficker.” Approximately one week prior to his sentencing, the defendant absconded from pretrial release and fled to Honduras.
Viera-Chirinos arrived back in the Northern District of California on May 8, 2024, to face sentencing for the charge set out in the August 2019 indictment. He is scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim on May 15, 2024, for further proceedings, including identification of counsel. A date for his sentencing has not yet been scheduled.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with Honduran authorities to secure the arrest and extradition of Viera-Chirinos.
This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. 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.
