Honduran National Indicted on Fentanyl Trafficking Charges

Milton Joel Varela Arteaga faces up to 40 years in prison for each count if convicted.

Milton Joel Varela Arteaga, a Honduran national residing in Oakland, California, has been indicted on three counts of possessing large amounts of fentanyl with the intent to distribute.
Arteaga was arrested in late November 2023 and has been in federal custody since then, awaiting trial.
Law enforcement officers found large amounts of cash and fentanyl in Arteaga’s Oakland apartment or car on three separate occasions in 2023.
Arteaga admitted to law enforcement officers that he regularly sold fentanyl in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood.
If convicted, Arteaga faces between 5 and 40 years in federal prison for each count of possession with intent to distribute.