Two drug dealers who fled from the Bay Area while out on bond awaiting federal drug trafficking charges were extradited from Honduras and sentenced to prison for 82 months and 34 months by U.S. District Court judges.

Victor Viera-Chirinos, who showed a “savviness as a trafficker,” was among 14 defendants indicted in August 2019 for trafficking large quantities of heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine in San Francisco’s infamous Tenderloin neighborhood, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of California.

Viera-Chirinos, who managed portions of the network’s drug trafficking activities, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to possess and distribute controlled substances. He was released on bond in April 2020.

Charging documents alleged Viera-Chirinos, 42, collected money from street dealers for housing, while they were trafficking drugs for the organization. He also ensured they were supplied with drugs for trafficking activities.

One week ahead of his June 2021 sentencing, Viera-Chirinos fled to Honduras.

On Sept. 4, 2024, U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer sentenced him to 82 months in prison.

“Victor Viera-Chirinos thought he could evade consequences for his criminal conduct by fleeing to Honduras prior to his sentencing,” U.S. Attorney Ismail Ramsey said in a statement.

“Let this case be instructive to people considering whether to distribute drugs in the Tenderloin District; the reach of the government is long and we are determined to assign the resources necessary to eradicate drug dealing from our neighborhoods and punish those who are found guilty of violating the drug trafficking laws.”

The second man, Mayer Benegas-Medina, was indicted in December 2020, in a separate conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl in the Tenderloin district.

Benegas-Medina, 30, was also released on bond, with the condition that he maintain a curfew and an electronic monitor.

He fled the United States in March 2021 and was also found in Honduras. He was extradited to the United States where he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 34 months in prison on Sept. 24, 2024.

A third man, Elmer Bonilla Matute, 34, was charged in December 2019 with four counts of possession with the intent to distribute heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and cocaine base.

Before he was indicted, Matute fled the United States and returned to his home country of Honduras, where he was found and extradited. All three men were extradited in February this year.

“As our sustained enforcement efforts in San Francisco continue, the economics of drug dealing no longer make sense for those peddling poison in the Tenderloin,” Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Brian M. Clark said in a statement in May. “This extradition makes it clear that we will use every tool at our disposal to hold you accountable because no one is beyond the grasp of the DEA and our law enforcement partners.”

The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, which aims to track down the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations, helped lead the investigation.

U.S. Attorney Ismail Ramsey announced in November 2023 that federal, state, and local law enforcement would conduct “All Hands on Deck,” a joint law enforcement initiative to fight San Francisco drug dealing and trafficking.

“The Tenderloin has become ground zero for drug tourism. On average, we lose three lives a day to drug poisoning from sales connected to this area,” Clark said in a statement. “The community has said, loud and clear, that they are sick and tired of the death and destruction caused by this lawlessness. As leaders in law enforcement, I can tell you we are working tirelessly to hold accountable the people responsible for this devastation.”

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, who assumed the role on July 8, 2022, vowed to clean up San Francisco streets while announcing the joint initiative.

“Current conditions on our streets are completely unacceptable and require all levels of government to work together to close open-air drug markets and hold suspected drug dealers accountable for the unprecedented death and addiction that their trade has wrought on our city,” she said in a statement.