Drug Traffickers Operated in Broad Daylight: Court Records Show

PROVIDENCE, RI — Armando's meat market on Elmwood Avenue, a car wash on North Main Street, the Charlesgate apartments and an International House of Pancakes on Pleasant Valley Parkway were among he locations the members of Valdez Heroin Ring allegedly used to deliver drugs and money, according to the arrest affidavit. The drug ring was under electronic and physical surveillance for months. At times, they noticed the police presence and changed their tactics, such as moving to a new stash house and changing the cars they drove.

But almost all of the activity happened in broad daylight in the morning and early afternoon.

The FBI's Special Agent Colin Woods said he investigated the ring for more than six months. The FBI used two confidential informants to meet with the drug dealers and buy supplies. They were called CS#1 and CS#2 in the affidavit. They bought $43,000 worth of cocaine, fentanyl and heroin from the drug ring, he said. The government supplied the money used. The informants brought the drugs back and handed them over to the agent.

"As thus far generally described, over the course of this investigation," Woods said, "both CS#1 and CS#2 have participated in numerous controlled drug buys from the Valdez brothers. In each case, CS#1 or CS#2 arranged the drug deal by contacting Hector or Juan Valdez on different cellular telephones that they used over time. On each occasion, the contact was by text messages, phone calls, or both and a quantity of heroin was ordered.

"The calls made by CS#1 were recorded and the text messages werephotographed. The calls and text messages made by CS#2 were made in my presence or that of another law enforcement officer and the conversations were listened to. Toll records verified all the contacts between the Cooperating Sources and Hector or ]uan Valdez. On each occasion, law enforcement investigators checked the Cooperating Sources for contraband prior to the transaction to be sure that they were not already in possession of any heroin or any additional cash. They never were."

The affidavit reveals several of the suspects are not U.S. citizens. Nine Dominicans are facing deportation, the authorities said. Some suspects stole people's identities to obtain driver's licenses and lease apartments.

Tanya Croteau, a U.S. citizen, ran drugs and was a money courier for the Valdez brothers, investigators allege. She also rented cars for them. She had no criminal record prior to this arrest.