Accused Drug Ring Moved Heroin Into Ohio, U.S.: DOJ

CLEVELAND — Twenty people have been accused of taking part in an international drug ring, selling heroin, fentanyl and cocaine, in locations around the world, including Cleveland, according to officials. Prosecutors said the ring originated in Mexico.

A federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment accusing Julian Aguirre-Aguirre, also known as "El Chocolate," of leading a drug trafficking organization, the Department of Justice announced. Aguirre-Aguirre was investigated by the DEA agents in Cleveland, Akron, New Orleans, Atlanta and Tucson, federal officials said.

The Department of Justice's indictment says the drug ring operated between August 2018 and January 2020. Aguirre-Aguirre is accused of overseeing the shipment of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine, fentanyl and heroin to distributors in Cleveland, New York City and other locations in the U.S.

Using encrypted cell phones and occasional in-person meetings in Mexico, the indictment says, the drug ring would coordinate its shipments. The group used code words to refer to narcotics, including: coffee, zip, border, single, bath, giraffe and other terms, prosecutors said.

Intercepted messages, recorded in the indictment, said distributors moved up to 100 kilograms of narcotics through Cleveland at a time.

Undercover investigators received shipments of fentanyl from members of the drug ring starting in 2018, the indictment says. In July 2019, the indictment adds, 20 kilograms of cocaine were delivered to a Holiday Inn in Brook Park. A distributor then picked up the drugs and began selling them, prosecutors said.

In Jan. 2020, three Arizona residents, Delmer Perpuly, Ulises Perpuly and Cesar Perpuly, were accused of delivering 15 kilograms of cocaine to a restaurant in Eastlake, Ohio. Prosecutors said those narcotics were shipped at the behest of "El Chocolate."

When police came to take the Perpulys into custody on Jan. 20, 2020, one of them jumped from a second-story window to avoid law enforcement, the indictment said.

Herman Fletcher and Nelson Becton have also been accused of working as Aguirre-Aguirre's distributors in Ohio. Fourteen other people have been accused of serving as cogs in the distribution ring, the Department of Justice said.

The DEA led the investigation into the accused drug ring, with the help of the FBI, ATF, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Summit County Drug Unit, Akron Police Department Narcotics, Lake County Narcotics Agency, and the Cleveland Heights Police Department, with additional assistance from the U.S. Marshal’s Service.