SACRAMENTO, CALIF. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - California, Eastern), published as received.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Abner Estrada Cruz, 27, of Honduras, was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd to 14 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least 400 grams of fentanyl, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.
According to court documents, Cruz was a leader and organizer of a Honduran drug trafficking organization operating out of Honduras, Oakland, California, and Portland, Oregon. Through at least seven intermediaries, Cruz coordinated the sale of 14 pounds of fentanyl powder into the Eastern District of California. He was ultimately extradited from Honduras to face the charges in this case.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Marshals Service conducted the investigation with assistance from the Butte County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, the California Highway Patrol, the California Department of Justice Division of Law Enforcement’s Bureau of Investigation, and the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron L. Desmond prosecuted the case.
On May 11, 2026, Cruz pleaded guilty. Below is the status of Cruz’s co-defendants in related cases:
On May 18, 2026, Carlos Samir Colindrez-Erazo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least 400 grams of fentanyl. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 14, 2026.
On July 27, 2026, Aronis Jose Hernandez-Aguilar pleaded guilty to distribution of at least 400 grams of fentanyl. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 25, 2027.
On Sept. 21, 2026, Yahir Alexander Arteaga Cruz pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least 400 grams of fentanyl and four counts of distribution of fentanyl. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 11, 2027.
This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Sacramento is composed of agents and officers from Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Northern California High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, Central Valley High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, and the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California.
