News - Honduran expatriate imprisoned for large-scale fentanyl operations in California

A Honduran national, Gustavo Erazo, who fled to his home country, has been extradited back to the United States and sentenced to five years for his involvement in a significant fentanyl trafficking operation in California, according to court documents. Erazo faced sentencing this month by Senior U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer following his indictment alongside two associates in 2023. These charges emerged after meticulous federal operations uncovered large quantities of the lethal narcotic in stash houses across Oakland and Berkeley in the year prior. In total, authorities seized around 15 pounds of fentanyl at a location in Berkeley and an additional roughly 1.5 pounds at Erazo’s residence in Oakland. Prosecutors revealed that the drug bust also resulted in the confiscation of more than $50,086 in cash, mostly linked to Erazo’s co-defendants. This high-profile case was distinguished by the U.S. Department of Justice last year when Erazo was extradited to the Bay Area from Honduras to address these allegations. Erazo’s co-defendants, Melvin Diaz-Arteaga and Luis Erazo-Centeno, received sentences of 78 and 56 months in a federal penitentiary, respectively. Court records disclose Erazo’s turbulent past—his defense counsel narrated his journey marked by deprivation, asserting that Erazo grew up in dire poverty in Honduras, with his life marred by the tragedy of losing a brother to violence at a young age. After emigrating to the United States in 2000, Erazo initially settled in Georgia, made a brief visit back to Honduras, and relocated to San Francisco. There, economic hardships drove him to sell fentanyl in the city's infamous Tenderloin district, as unveiled by court reports. “I never intended to harm anyone. My decisions were driven by urgency and lack of options,” explained Erazo to his probation officer, revealing the challenges of his past. “Without a home or means, I wish circumstances had allowed me to pursue a different path.”