Oakland resident arrested by DEA
They say undercover operation leads to fentanyl sale at home
OAKLAND >> While it's common for undercover federal drug agents to gain the trust of suspected traffickers they're investigating, rarely will one lead the authorities right through their own back door.
But that's what the Drug Enforcement Agency says happened in the case of Alejandro Angel Lopez, a 19-year-old Oakland resident who's now in custody facing charges that carry serious prison time. Federal prosecutors have charged Lopez with selling methamphetamine and fentanyl to an undercover agent by the ounce. He faces a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 40 if convicted.
It all started in June 2022 when a person whose identity authorities are keeping a secret allegedly messaged Lopez to set up a half-pound fentanyl deal. Unbeknownst to Lopez, who allegedly agreed to the deal, the person had agreed a month earlier to work for the DEA as a confidential informant.
The informant then introduced Lopez to an undercover agent; authorities say they met several more times. Last November, Lopez allegedly met with two undercover agents at an Auto Zone parking lot in Oakland for a four-ounce fentanyl deal.
But the crux of the investigation came on July 21, 2022, when Lopez allegedly agreed to sell the agent four ounces of methamphetamine and a halfpound of fentanyl and met on 100th and Holly streets in Oakland. During their conversation, the agent discussed upping the ante to a bigger bag of fentanyl; Lopez allegedly said he needed to go home and weigh the bag out.
Lopez then had the agent drive him to his home, a short distance from their meeting spot, and brought the agent in through the back. After allegedly completing a 12-ounce fentanyl deal for $2,700, Lopez had the agent drive him back to 100th and Holly streets, then walked back home, while a surveillance unit followed him.
Lopez remains in Santa Rita Jail in Dublin on a no-bail federal hold. He is next due in court in March, where a judge will decide whether to keep him in custody or release him while the case is pending, records show.