News

Four local men sent to prison for meth ring

By Bill Moss, Published: May 7, 2016

ASHEVILLE — A federal  judge sentenced four local men to prison terms ranging from five to six years in prison for their involvement in a methamphetamine trafficking ring operating in the Henderson County, U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose announced.

U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. sentenced the leader and three co-conspirators to prison terms ranging from 57 months to 70 months for their involvement in a meth ring that law officers busted after police in Oklahoma seized nearly 10 pounds of meth in a traffic stop.

Joining in the announcement was Daniel R. Salter, special agent in charge of the Atlanta division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Henderson County Sheriff Charlie McDonald.

Judge Cogburn sentenced the defendants as follows:

• Maria Del Ruiz-Zazueta, 45, of Hendersonville, to 57 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
• Stephanie Alvarenga, 24, of Hendersonville, to 63 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
• Daniel Alfaro, 24, of Laurel Park, to 70 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.
• Antonio Barbosa, 34, of Hendersonville, to 63 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

Cogburn had previously sentenced four other conspirators. Nahuan Solano, 27, of Hendersonville, was sentenced to 63 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release; Eric Lee Garber, 41, of Saluda, was sentenced to 60 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release; Benjamin Nelson, 31, of Hendersonville, was sentenced to 57 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release; and Allan Collado-Raudez, 23, of Asheville, was sentenced to 39 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release.
According to court documents and testimony at a sentencing hearing on Friday, from about May 2014 to May 2015, the conspirators ran a drug trafficking ring that distributed large quantities of meth in Henderson County and surrounding areas. According to court records, Maria Del Ruiz-Zazueta was the leader of the drug ring and was assisted by her daughter, Stephanie Alvarenga, in supplying the methamphetamine to their co-conspirators.

Solano and Alfaro were methamphetamine traffickers who acted as runners for Ruiz-Zazueta and Alvarenga, authorities said. According to court records, the ring’s customers included area methamphetamine traffickers Garber and Nelson. Ruiz-Zazueta and other members of the ring used Antonio Barbosa as an alternate source of supply, who was assisted by Collado-Raudez, the U.S. attorney said.
In May 2015 law enforcement in Oklahoma made a traffic stop of the vehicle in which Alvarenga was a passenger. Alvarenga and the driver of the vehicle were headed from California to North Carolina. During the traffic stop, law enforcement seized nearly 10 pounds of methamphetamine from a backpack located in the trunk of the car, authorities said.
The four sentenced to prison on Friday are in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.
The investigation was handled by the DEA and the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Kent of the U.S. Attorney’s office in Asheville is in charge of the prosecution.