Date: May 6, 2025
Contact: [email protected]
DENVER — The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that a grand jury has returned an indictment charging Exor Omar Villanueva Raudales, a.k.a. “Brian,” Alex Yubini Canaca Calix, Luis Fernando Banega Moncada, Alejandro Torres Ochoa, and Juan Carlos Sosa Villanueva, with possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl on different occasions between June 2024 and April 2025.
The indictment alleges a series of distinct episodes in which one or more of the defendants distributed fentanyl pills. Four involved Raudales, who worked with Calix, Moncada, and Villaneuva to execute fentanyl deals. Two involved Ochoa, who executed a deal by himself on one day and with Raudales and Villanueva on another. The deals involved substantial amounts of fentanyl, a dangerous Schedule II controlled substance.
Defendants Moncada, Ochoa, and Villanueva – all Honduran nationals without authorization to be in the United States – had initial appearances in federal court on April 29, 2025. All have since been detained pending trial after detention hearings in U.S. District Court. Raudales remains at large. Calix was unlawfully present and has previously been deported.
The investigation is being conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation, the Denver Field Office of the FBI, the Denver Field Office of the DEA, and ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations. The prosecution is being handled by the Transnational Organized Crime and Money Laundering Section of the United States Attorney’s Office.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
The charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.