ORLANDO, Fla. – An Orlando man faces at least 10 years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty Friday in a heroin trafficking case that involved the drug being sold using a hotline in the tourist district, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Alexis Fontanez Nieves, 29, is accused of having been part of a drug trafficking organization called "La Compania" or "the Company," which used a frequently changing phone number known as "the heroin line" to allow customers to arrange drug purchases.
The heroin line was managed by different traffickers during two 12-hour shifts per day, seven days per week, according to authorities. They estimate that the group sold about one kilogram of heroin every two weeks.
Nieves, along with his brother, the accused ringleader of the organization, would re-package bulk heroin inside Orlando hotel rooms so it could be resold on the street along with cocaine.
Nieves is suspected of having assumed more roles within La Compania after the Orlando Police Department arrested his brother. At that point, he started controlling the heroin line, providing drugs to the low-level sellers and collecting money from their sales at the end of their shifts, officials said.
Eight accused members of La Compania, including Nieves, were indicted on March 23. So far seven of them have been convicted of a federal drug offense, and the remaining defendant is set to go to trial later this month.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation, the United States Marshals Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Orlando Police Department.