San Francisco, CA – Today, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced that eight individuals were charged in connection to suspected drug dealing in the Tenderloin following a joint federal and local law enforcement operation on November 1, 2023. Five suspects were arraigned on November 3, 2023, and each pled not guilty to their specific charges and allegations in San Francisco Superior Court. Bench warrants were issued for three individuals who failed to appear in court for arraignment. One individual was arraigned on November 7, 2023, and pled not guilty to all charges and allegations. The criminal complaint for one of the nine individuals charged alleges that this incident occurred while he has two open pending felony cases.
“My office will continue to do everything we can to hold suspected drug dealers accountable,” said District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. “Rampant drug dealing on our streets is unacceptable and every legal means available to us will be used to dismantle open-air drug markets. Suspected drug dealers who choose to sell deadly drugs on our streets will be identified, arrested and prosecuted.”
The District Attorney’s Office moved to detain eight of the nine individuals pending trial because of the public safety risk they pose. The court granted the motion to detain without prejudice for two people. The court will hear further arguments at the time of the preliminary hearings in those cases. Two individuals arraigned, who had been released pre-arraignment by the court, were remanded and taken into custody following arraignment. Bench warrants were issued for three individuals, who had been released pre-arraignment by the court, for failure to appear. Two individuals were released by the court on electronic monitoring with a stay away order from the place where they were arrested on November 1, 2023.
This year, through November 2, 2023, the District Attorney’s Office has been presented with and filed the most felony narcotics cases year over year since 2018 with 851 cases presented and 739 cases filed. In the same time period 238 felony narcotics cases have been convicted or pled guilty to another felony charge.
As of November 2, 2023, there are 535 individuals with open bench warrants who failed to appear for narcotics sales cases who were released by the court. 139 of these individuals in bench warrant status have more than one open case. Seven individuals have four open cases and one individual has five open cases.
The District Attorney’s Office has filed 316 motions to detain the most egregious drug dealing suspects because of the extreme public safety risk they pose. Of the 316 detention motions filed, the court has granted 32.
Although charges have been filed, this remains an active investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the San Francisco Police Department Tip Line at 1-415-575-4444 or Text a Tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with SFPD. You may remain anonymous.
Court Numbers:
Chavez-Martinez, 23017998
Maldonado-Dorica, 23017999
Dario-Natute, 23018005
Bennett, 23018014
Lorenzo-Najera, 23018016
Mendez, 23018019
Sharick, 23018022
Velasquez-Diaz, 23018023
Diaz-Melendez, 23018012
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