Opinion ID: 214249
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Undercover Sting Operation

Text: DEA Agents Miguel Melendez-Cruz, Roberto Cruz-Perez, and Johnny Melendez organized an undercover operation to buy cocaine. The targeted individuals included Carlos Rodriguez and Israel Ruiz. Rodriguez had solicited Marcos Nunez-Retamar to be a runner, or an intermediary who earns commissions by matching suppliers of cocaine with buyers. Nunez-Retamar became a confidential informant. Agent Cruz-Perez instructed Nunez-Retamar to call Rodriguez and tell him that Cruz-Perez was his brother and he wanted to buy ten kilograms of cocaine. Cruz-Perez, Melendez, and Nunez-Retamar then met with Rodriguez and Ruiz. Nunez-Retamar introduced CruzPerez as his brother, and told Rodriguez and Ruiz that he wanted to buy ten kilograms of cocaine. After conversing about the specifics of the deal, they came to an agreement to purchase the cocaine. -2- The next day, Rodriguez called to report that he had spoken with the supplier and they wanted to do the deal in front of a restaurant at a shopping mall that evening. Rodriguez and Ruiz arrived at the designated time, but stated that their supplier did not like the area because they saw suspicious vehicles and uniformed patrols. Cruz-Perez made several recorded calls to Rodriguez and Ruiz the following day. Ruiz said that no one wants to release the tickets, which meant that the suppliers did not want to provide the drugs without first seeing the money. Cruz-Perez asked Rodriguez if he had iron, meaning firearms. Rodriguez replied, I carry steel on my waist. Cruz-Perez, Melendez, Nunez-Retamar, and Rodriguez agreed to meet at a restaurant for the exchange at 5:30 p.m. on June 23, 2006. Cruz-Perez placed agents around the premises to make arrests once the drugs arrived. They planned to call these agents after seeing the drugs and ask them to bring the money in, which was the code phrase ordering the arrests of the dealers. Cruz-Perez, Melendez, and Nunez-Retamar arrived first, and waited inside the restaurant. Rodriguez called and said he could not attend the meeting because his car broke down. At 6:30 p.m., a Mitsubishi automobile parked in front of the restaurant, with Ruiz in the back seat and Angel Cruz-Perez (Angel) driving. Vazquez-Castro was also in the vehicle, sitting in the front -3- passenger seat. Ruiz exited the vehicle, and Angel and VazquezCastro left the area. Ruiz entered the restaurant, told Cruz-Perez that the kilos were there, and asked about the money. The agent replied that not a penny was going to be shown until he saw the kilos. Ruiz responded that he needed to speak with the owners of the material. Ruiz left the restaurant, made a telephone call outside, and returned to again inquire about the money. The agents repeated that there would be no money until the drugs were shown, and Ruiz left to make another telephone call. The Mitsubishi returned with Angel driving and Vazquez-Castro in the front passenger seat. Ruiz got into the back seat. Cruz-Perez approached the Mitsubishi, opened the rear passenger side door, and asked whether they were going to negotiate? Angel said yes, and instructed VazquezCastro to go get that. Vazquez-Castro exited the vehicle, walked to an Isuzu about six vehicles away, and got into the rear passenger side. A few minutes later, Vazquez-Castro exited the vehicle, and returned with his hand tucked near the left side of his body and apparently carrying something inside his sweater. Vazquez-Castro got back into the Mitsubishi. Ruiz opened the door and said, it is here. Cruz-Perez instructed Nunez-Retamar to check the drugs. NunezRetamar looked in the passenger's side for several seconds, then told Cruz-Perez to [b]ring the money, there is a kilo. -4- Angel and Vazquez-Castro exited the vehicle and walked into the restaurant, where they were arrested. Ruiz was arrested outside, as were the two individuals in the Isuzu. When Melendez arrested the driver of the Isuzu, the driver said he was armed and [t]he weapon is under the carpet in the driver's seat, on the floor. The agent then found a loaded .45 caliber pistol folded in the floor mat on the driver's side of the Isuzu. The agents also retrieved a blue bag containing five kilograms of cocaine from the back seat of the Isuzu and a kilogram of cocaine from the Mitsubishi's glove box.