Northern District of California | Two fugitive pork drug traffickers sentenced to prison after being extradited from Honduras

SAN FRANCISCO – Two drug dealers who fled from the Bay Area to Honduras while on bail awaiting federal drug trafficking charges have been extradited to San Francisco and sentenced to prison terms of 82 months and 34 months, U.S. Attorney Ismail announced. J. Ramsey and Drug known. Enforcement Administration (DEA) Acting Special Agent in Charge Bob P. Beris.

Victor Viera-Chirinos, 42, was one of 14 defendants charged in August 2019 with trafficking large quantities of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine base and cocaine in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood. Viera-Chirinos was a high-level manager responsible for overseeing parts of the network’s drug trafficking operations. He was released on bail on April 28, 2020. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess and distribute a controlled substance in violation of 21 USC §§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B). A week prior to his sentencing, scheduled for June 2, 2021, Viera-Chirinos fled. The court issued an arrest warrant and federal authorities eventually located Viera-Chirinos in Honduras. Viera-Chirinos was extradited to the United States and on September 4, 2024, the Hon. U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer sentenced him to 82 months in prison.

Mayer Benegas-Medina, 30, was charged on December 16, 2020, with a separate conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl in the tenderloin. Benegas-Medina was also released on bail. The conditions of his release include electronic monitoring and a curfew. He fled in March 2021. Federal authorities eventually found him in Honduras and extradited him to the United States. Benegas-Medina pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge and on September 24, 2024, the Hon. U.S. District Judge William H. Alsup sentenced him to 34 months in prison.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the top drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by utilizing a prosecutor-led, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with Honduran authorities to secure the extradition of Viera-Chirinos and Benegas-Medina to the United States.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sailaja M. Paidipaty and Dan M. Karmel are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Madeline Wachs. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by DEA.