Maryland Man Admits to Role in a Large-Scale Drug Trafficking Operation

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA - A Hagerstown, Maryland man has admitted to his part in a large-scale drug operation in Berkeley and Jefferson Counties that has ties to the Sinaloa Drug Cartel in Mexico, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey.

David Reyes, 61, pled guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute cocaine, fentanyl, and heroin. According to statements made in court, Reyes was a source of supply, organizer, and decision-maker within the drug conspiracy. Reyes worked with those in Puerto Rico to further the drug operation. Saul Alex Padilla-Garcia, the leader of the organization, and 17 others, including Reyes, were operating the fentanyl and cocaine trafficking operation out of an autobody shop in Martinsburg, West Virginia. The group imported significant amounts of drugs from Puerto Rico through the U.S. Postal Service as well as from a source connected to the Sinaloa Cartel.

Of the 18 defendants in this case, 13 have entered guilty pleas and 11 have been sentenced for their roles in the organization.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Omps-Botteicher is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government.

The Eastern Panhandle Drug Task Force was the lead investigative unit. Other investigative agencies that assisted include the Federal Bureau of Investigation, including the Pittsburgh, San Francisco, San Juan, and Philadelphia Field Offices; United States Marshals Service; Homeland Security Investigations; United States Postal Service; Drug Enforcement Administration, the Louisville and Chicago Divisions; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; West Virginia State Police; Martinsburg Police Department; Ranson Police Department; Charles Town Police Department; Berkeley County Sheriff's Office; Jefferson County Sheriff's Office; West Virginia Air National Guard; Mineral County Sheriff's Office; Grant County Sheriff's Office; Hampshire County Sheriff's Department; Keyser Police Department; Northwest Regional Drug Task Force, Virginia; Pennsylvania State Police; Franklin County Sheriff's Office, Pennsylvania; Winchester Police Department, Virginia; Frederick County Sheriff's Office, Virginia; Virginia State Police; Sunnyvale Police Department, California.

U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided.

Fentanyl has been designated by President Donald Trump as a weapon of mass destruction due to its extreme lethality which poses a grave threat to public safety, even in trace amounts. This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime, and repel the invasion of illegal immigration.