Three men have been charged for trafficking heroin out of a grocery store in Hartford.
A federal grand jury indicted Johnny Beltre, 32, of Cromwell, Elvis De Los Santos, 23, of Hartford, and Domingo De Los Santos, 48, of Hartford, with heroin trafficking offenses.
In July 2015, DEA investigators began to probe Beltre, the owner of the Beltre Family Grocery store on 955 Broad Street in Hartford. Between July and Jan. 2014, police made seven controlled purchases of heroin from Beltre and his associates, according to court documents.
For each transaction, law enforcement would set up the exchange with Beltre over phone or text messages and bring him money at the grocery store. From there, the "purchaser" would go to Elvis De Los Santos' apartment on Sherbrooke Avenue or Domingo De Los Santos' apartment on Newbury street to obtain the promised heroin.
On Feb. 22, Beltre was arrested in the Bronx, New York, after the grocer allegedly gave a courier a bag with almost $500,000 in exchange for 20 kilograms of heroin, the prosecutors said.
On the same day, according to the state prosecutor, Hartfod DEA officers arrested the De Los Santos and searched all three suspects' apartments. Police found more than $430,000 in cash at Beltre's, two bags of raw heroin, cutting agents, a digital scale and baggies at Elvis's apartment and a bag of heroin, bag of cocaine, cutting agents, a kilogram press, baggies, scales, gloves, a vacuum sealer and $6,000 in cash at Domingo's apartment.
The indictment charges all three men with conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin. If convicted of this charge, each defendant faces a minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of life. Each defendant also faces multiple counts of possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, heroin.
The three defendants are detained.
An indictment is not evidence of guilt, U.S. Attorney Daly stresses.
