Bronx Man Sentenced To 121 Months For Supplying Heroin To Wilmington Drug Trafficking Organization

WILMINGTON, Del. – David C. Weiss, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Delaware, announced today that Miguel Angel Diaz, age 40, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 121 months in prison and 5 years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute heroin.  Diaz, of the Bronx, New York, served as the source of supply for a Wilmington-based drug organization, known as the “30^th Street Crew,”

Diaz has been incarcerated since March 25, 2014, when he was arrested by the FBI at JFK International Airport returning from a trip to the Dominican Republic.  Since his arrest, he has been held without bail on federal drug trafficking charges.  With Diaz’s conviction and sentence, a total of fifteen individuals associated with the 30th Street Crew have been indicted and found guilty on federal drug trafficking charges.  Other co-defendants are now serving jail terms of between two and six and a half years. 

This is Diaz’s second federal drug trafficking conviction.  In 2007, he was convicted in the Southern District of New York for distributing five or more kilograms of cocaine, and served a 62 month sentence. 

According to court documents, following a nearly five month wire-tap investigation, law enforcement identified and dismantled the 30^th Street Crew, which was a dominant drug trafficking organization throughout the north side of Wilmington.  In so doing, law enforcement determined that Diaz – despite being on federal supervised release for his earlier drug conviction – was the principal supplier of heroin for the 30^th Street Crew.  The investigation determined that between June 2012 and June 2013, Diaz shipped up to 200 logs of heroin twice-a-month to members of the 30^th Street Crew in Wilmington.  These heroin shipments were estimated to have a street value of between $40,000-$70,000 per shipment.  To conceal these heroin shipments from law enforcement, Diaz organized a sophisticated drug operation, including using multiple cell phones to speak with other members of the organization, talking in code, using covert money pickups, and employing a drug courier. 

To distribute the heroin supplied by Diaz, the 30^th Street Crew used a residence at 3000 N. Madison Street, Wilmington – situated just blocks away from P.S. DuPont Middle School – as its headquarters.  That house served as a retail center for drug distribution, with a regular influx of customers and sub-distributors arriving to make drug purchases from conspiracy members.  The house was also a center for violence, including at least two shootings which occurred outside the residence in November and December 2011. 

Diaz’s conviction and sentencing brings to a close the long-term investigation into the 30^th Street Crew, which was led by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Wilmington Police Department, and the State of Delaware Department of Corrections Division of Probation and Parole.  Critical support for the investigation and arrests was provided by Delaware State Police, Delaware Division of Gaming Enforcement, New Castle County Police Department, United States Marshals Service, and the United States Department of Agriculture.

Acting United States Attorney David C. Weiss thanked the federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies for their participation in this investigation, and stated, “This investigation not only dismantled a large-scale drug trafficking organization that had heretofore operated with near-impunity on the streets of Wilmington, but brought to justice the person responsible for supplying the heroin.” 

The case was being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jamie M. McCall and Elizabeth Van Pelt.