Federal agents from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) executed 17 arrest warrants early Wednesday in western Puerto Rico under what was called 'Operación Los Tíos’. DEA Puerto Rico deputy director Juan Hernández said the warrants respond to an indictment issued by a federal grand jury at the federal court in San Juan against alleged members of a criminal organization dubbed 'Los Tíos’, which allegedly operated out of the Las Muñecas public housing neighborhood in Aguadilla.
Six of the 17 defendants, 16 men and one woman, were detained in the street during the early-morning operation; the rest were already in custody in state and federal prisons. Two people are in Florida and will eventually be extradited. The DEA says it has dismantled the gang, since 18 other alleged members were arrested previously in separate operations.
An organizational chart identified the alleged leaders as Wesley Ortiz Soto, Alexander Torres Cintrón (alias 'Huesito') and Fernando Pagán Flores (alias 'Pri'). Charges allege weapons and drug law violations for trafficking heroin, crack, fentanyl and marijuana. Hernández said some members are linked to several killings in the Aguadilla area, and that the gang had operations in Isabela and Quebradillas plus members in Hato Rey.
The investigation began in 2022, when the DEA estimates the organization produced nearly $5 million, with alleged ties to drug trafficking organizations in the Dominican Republic and Colombia. The arrestees were taken to the Raymond Dalmau coliseum in Quebradillas for initial processing.