Waterford Man Sentenced to More than 7 Years in Prison for Trafficking Cocaine

WATERFORD, CT – Luis Zayas, also known as “Guichan,” 40, of Waterford was sentenced Wednesday to 85 months in prison and five years of supervised release for trafficking cocaine.

In early 2012, Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), the U.S. Secret Service and the New London Police Department initiated an investigation to combat the large-scale trafficking of heroin and cocaine from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico into and around southeastern Connecticut, according to a release.

The investigation revealed that certain members of the conspiracy coordinated the shipment of heroin, and sometimes cocaine, through human couriers from the Dominican Republic to the United States. Other members of the conspiracy obtained kilogram-quantities of cocaine in Puerto Rico and then mailed the drug to locations towards New London, where it was sold to distributors and customers.

Narcotics were also obtained from sources in New York City and Rhode Island.

Zayas and Pedro Rivera, also known as “Cheito,” arranged the shipment of cocaine from sources in Puerto Rico to the New London area. The two then distributed the cocaine to customers in southeastern Connecticut through a network of associates.

More than 100 individuals were charged with federal and state offenses as a result of this investigation.

Zayas was arrested on April 3, 2013, and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine on Jan. 29, 2015. Rivera also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 116 months of imprisonment on Dec. 9, 2015.

Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Air and Marine, Connecticut State Police, New London Police, Norwich Police, Waterford Police, Groton Town Police, East Lyme Police, Putnam Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives all played a part in the investigation.