Providence Man Sentenced To Over Three Years After Arrested With 12 Kilograms of Fentanyl in Fall River Stash House

A Providence, R.I. man was sentenced today for his role in a drug trafficking organization (DTO) that distributed fentanyl throughout Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. 

Rafael Cesar Cabreja Jimenez, 29 was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs to 42 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release. In March 2024, Cabreja Jimenez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl; and one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. Cabreja Jimenez was one of 10 individuals indicted by a federal grand jury in August 2022 in connection with the conspiracy.

In March 2021, an investigation began into a DTO operating in Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island led by Estarlin Ortiz-Alcantara. The investigation identified Cabreja Jimenez as a distributor for the DTO who, between approximately March 2022 and June 2022, regularly distributed multi-kilograms of fentanyl to customers and co-conspirators of the DTO from a base of operations at a stash house in Fall River. 

During a search of the stash house in July 2022, Cabreja Jimenez was found located inside the apartment along with more than 12 kilograms of fentanyl stored in various ceiling panels, blenders, a hydraulic press and baggies.  

Cabreja Jimenez is the ninth defendant to plead guilty in the case. Ortiz-Alcantara pleaded guilty in December 2023 and is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 8, 2024.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; New Bedford Police Chief Paul Oliveira; and Fairhaven Police Chief Michael J. Myers made the announcement today. Special assistance was provided by the Massachusetts State Police; Homeland Security Investigations; Bristol County Sherriff’s Department; and Fall River, Taunton, Attleboro, Scituate, Yarmouth, Providence (R.I.) and West Warwick (R.I.) Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney John T. Mulcahy of the Narcotics & Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.