OAKLAND — A trio of alleged Bay Area drug traffickers have been indicted on charges of possessing fentanyl and methamphetamine for sale, including more than six pounds of fentanyl found during raid on an Oakland home, according to court records.
Maria Valle-Rodriguez, Jonsan Valle-Rodriguez, and Emilson Valle-Zuniga were indicted on charges of fentanyl distribution and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl. The charges resulted from an undercover Drug Enforcement Administrative investigation, as federal and state authorities continue to try to make a dent in the open air drug markets in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood.
During the investigation, Maria Valle-Rodriguez allegedly revealed to an undercover agent that her brother, “Lolo,” had been killed just nights before. Police believe she was referring to a Nov. 25 gunfight in the Tenderloin that resulted in one man being killed and another injured.
Jonsan Valle-Rodriguez — also a brother of Maria Valle-Rodriguez — allegedly used her home on the 3500 block of Meadow Street in Oakland as a place to stash drugs. Drug agents seized more than six pounds of fentanyl there during a Dec. 12 raid, according to prosecutors. All in all, authorities seized eight pounds of fentanyl and two pounds of methamphetamine, as well as “large sums” of cash during the operation, according to court records.
Jonsan Valle-Rodriguez and Emilson Valle-Zuniga have been jailed pending trial, while Maria Valle-Rodriguez has been released on a $20,000 unsecured bond. Ironically, prosecutors spent the most effort to secure pretrial detention for Maria, authoring a 14-page motion that describes Maria Valle-Rodriguez as a “professional drug dealer” who was undeterred by prior convictions for dealing drugs and returning to the United States after a deportation.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Alex Tse allowed Maria Valle-Rodriguez to be released on Dec. 15 to attend her brother’s funeral, then noted in a subsequent hearing that she’d been “inadvertently released” a day early. A week after that, on Dec. 22, Tse accepted a surety bond by two relatives who were willing to sign onto her release. A further status conference regarding her detention status has been set for Jan. 9, but in the meantime she remains out of custody, according to jail records.
