Eight charged in Hampton Roads cocaine ring

NORFOLK

A federal grand jury Wednesday indicted eight individuals on charges of running a large-scale cocaine distribution network.

Two of the suspects, junior Navy sailors, are accused of selling cocaine while in uniform.

Ronny Alvarez, 22, of Virginia Beach, a former Navy enlistee who served on the amphibious assault ship Wasp, is charged with being the ringleader of the organization and traveling to New York every few weeks over the past year to obtain 5 to 7 kilos, or 11 to 15 pounds, of cocaine.

Miguel Barreiros, 27, of Norfolk, currently serving on the Wasp, is accused of being a courier and allowing his house to be used to stash drugs, according to court records.

Authorities said when they searched his house on Feb. 2 they found two kilos of cocaine, a press to package the drugs and $20,000 in cash.

Court records indicate that the authorities witnessed Barreiros and defendant Reynaldo O. Rodriguez, 22, also serving on the Wasp, either transporting or selling drugs while in uniform.

Two Virginia Beach men, Jeremy Wayne Rainey, 25, and William Russell Carter, 28, are charged with buying large amounts of cocaine from Alvarez, stashing and selling the drugs from their homes, first in Pungo and then in Chic's Beach.

Others charged include Deon Stots, 36, of Virginia Beach; Montroleus Boston, 39, of Virginia Beach; and Jesus Alvarez, 26, of Norfolk, a former sailor who had been stationed at Oceana.

Jesus Alvarez is not related to Ronny Alvarez.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the Norfolk and Virginia Beach police departments have been investigating the ring since last summer.

The investigation began when an unidentified informant told authorities that Ronny Alvarez was buying multiple kilos of cocaine in New York and distributing them in Hampton Roads, according to a court affidavit filed by DEA agent Corey D. Handy Sr.

The informant, who was receiving about a half-kilo of cocaine a month from Alvarez, agreed to let the DEA record phone calls with Alvarez, the affidavit says.

By January, the agents had received court approval for wiretaps on several more phones belonging to the suspects.

The eight defendants were all arrested over the past several weeks and are being held in custody pending arraignment.

Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com