Guatemala to Mexico to RI: She Trafficked Heroin: U.S. Attorney

PROVIDENCE, RI — Olga Lidia Sandoval, 39, of Attleboro, MA., pleaded guilty to drug charges in Providence federal on Monday. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, she was trafficking heroin from Guatemala through Mexico to Rhode Island. Rhode Island State Police seized the heroin during a traffic stop. The heroin was discovered hidden in the front differential and axle of a truck allegedly being towed by Ivan K. Alvarado, 38, of Spring Valley, N.Y.

According to court records, Rhode Island State Police and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force in November 2015 began investigating the drug trafficking activities of a co-conspirator in this matter, Jose Luis Amparo Nova, 33, of North Providence. Then in January 2016, HSI began investigating Olga Sandoval’s drug trafficking activities, which included arranging the importation and distribution of heroin in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

Both suspects were under electronic surveillance.

"Beginning on May 13, 2016, law enforcement monitored discussions of a shipment of narcotics coming from Mexico to Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Conversations over the next several days included identifying a location to deliver the drugs that would avoid law enforcement detection, as well as payment for the drugs. On May 19, law enforcement monitored conversations that indicated that the truck transporting the drugs to New England had been damaged in a rollover accident. On May 22, Rhode Island State Police stopped the driver of a U-Haul truck towing a truck that had suffered significant body damage. The trooper affected a traffic stop after witnessing the vehicle weaving in and out of marked lanes. The vehicles were towed to Rhode Island State Police headquarters where a court authorized search of the vehicles result in the discovery of 6.487 kilograms of heroin stashed in the truck being towed. As the traffic stop was occurring, law enforcement intercepted a call placed by Olga Sandoval indicating that she received a call informing her that Alvarado had been stopped by law enforcement.

She was charged with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin and possession with the intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin.

According to court records, in May 2016, she arranged for the transportation of nearly 6 ½ kilograms of heroin to be brought into Rhode Island.

Ivan Alvarado was arrested on May 22, 2016, and Olga Sandoval and Jose Nova were arrested on May 24, 2016, on federal criminal complaints charging them with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin. U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Patricia A. Sullivan ordered the defendants detained in federal custody.

Sandoval and Nova were indicted by a federal grand jury on June 16, 2016, on charges of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin and possession with the intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin. Both pleaded guilty as charged in the indictment. Nova pleaded guilty on January 26, 2017, before U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 14. A sentencing date for Sandoval has not yet been scheduled by the court.