News Release [print friendly page]
For Immediate Release:
Contact: Special Agent Tony Pettigrew
Phone: 617-557-2138
September 17, 2008

Heroin Trafficker Sentenced to More Than Six Years in Federal Prison

SEP 17 -- Kevin L. Lane, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England and Nora R. Dannehy, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that BENJAMIN MUNOZ, also known as Jose Cuebas, 36, of Lynn, Massachusetts, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Alfred V. Covello in Hartford to 78 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for heading a heroin trafficking organization in New Haven.  On January 30, 2007, MUNOZ pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin.

On August 10, 2005, a federal grand jury sitting in New Haven returned an Indictment charging MUNOZ and eight others with narcotics conspiracy violations.  The charges arose from an investigation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Drug Task Force, in conjunction with the Connecticut State Police, into the distribution of heroin throughout the New Haven area by MUNOZ and his associates.  A variety of traditional and sophisticated investigative techniques were employed by the Task Force, including court-authorized wiretaps, and undercover purchases and seizures of heroin.

The investigation revealed that MUNOZ regularly traveled to New York to obtain bulk quantities of heroin.  He and members of his organization processed and packaged the heroin in Bridgeport, and then distributed it in New Haven.

Also, in August 2005, MUNOZ delivered a kilogram of heroin to a customer in Philadelphia.

This matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Drug Task Force, which includes agents and officers from the DEA, the New Haven, West Haven, Meriden, and Branford police departments, and the Connecticut State Police.