Five Years in Prison for Norwalk Cocaine and Heroin Trafficker

           
Hector Valle, 43, a citizen of Mexico last residing in Norwalk, was sentenced Wednesday by a US District Judge in New Haven to 65 months of imprisonment and four years of supervised release for trafficking narcotics according to a release from the US Dept. of Justice.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on March 27, 2012, NY Police conducting a narcotics trafficking investigation contacted the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Bridgeport about individuals operating out of 18-20 Taylor Ave. and 20 Woodbury Ave. in Norwalk who had just received a multiple-kilogram shipment of cocaine, according to the release.

A Bridgeport DEA Task Force and the Norwalk Police Special Services Division executed a court-authorized search of 20 Woodbury Avenue and encountered Valle, Jose Mendez-Luna and others. 

A search of Valle's bedroom turned up cocaine and heroin, drug ledgers and approximately $8,000 in cash.  In a bedroom that Mendez-Luna had been using, officers located a 9-millimeter gun, a magazine with four rounds of ammunition, approximately 262 grams of cocaine, two digital scales, narcotics packaging materials and nine cell phones.  Approximately one ounce of heroin was also found in the kitchen.       

A subsequent court-authorized search of 18-20 Taylor Ave. turned up five kilograms of heroin, 10 pounds of Methamphetamine, $279,000 in cash, one handgun, ammunition and narcotics packaging materials.

Valle has been detained since his arrest on March 28, 2012.  On March 15, 2013, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine.

Mendez-Luna also pleaded guilty and, on July 17, 2013, he was sentenced to 30 months of imprisonment. 

This matter was investigated by DEA Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force, which is composed of members of the Bridgeport, Milford, Norwalk, Stamford, Stratford and Westport Police Departments. 

The investigation was significantly assisted by the Norwalk Police Department’s Special Services Division and the New York Police Department.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Sarah Karwan and Vanessa Richards.