3 Santa Rosa men, including ‘aspiring rap musician,’ charged with running nationwide fentanyl smuggling ring

Federal officials say three Santa Rosa men arrested earlier this month are suspected of shipping methamphetamine and counterfeit fentanyl-laced Oxycodone to 15 states in a two-year scheme.

They are accused of sending drugs to Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Georgia, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Illinois, New York, Maryland and New Jersey.

Authorities believe on at least one occasion the trio tried to ship narcotics from a UPS store in Sebastopol, using packaging equipment they’d obtained from mail and garden supply stores in Santa Rosa.

According to court records, authorities believe the men, Matthew Cox, 26, Marcus Johnson, 24, and Ricardo Molinero-Alcaraz, 27, communicated with each other via Instagram and used Venmo to transfer illicit funds. One of them, an aspiring rapper, even alluded to the activity in a music video on YouTube, officials said in a criminal complaint.

Cox, Johnson and Molinero-Alcaraz are each charged with conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances in middle Tennessee, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nashville.

They were arraigned Sept. 8 before a U.S. magistrate judge in the Northern District of California. For unspecified reasons, Cox and Johnson were released on federal supervision, while Molinero-Alcaraz remains in federal custody.

Cox, however, ended up being held at the Sonoma County jail on suspicion of violating his probation, said David Boling, a public affairs officer with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nashville.

Molinero-Alcaraz’s attorney declined to comment Thursday when reached by The Press Democrat. Attorneys for the other defendants couldn’t be immediately reached.

Each man could be sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, if convicted.

Investigation and evidence

Investigators suspect the trio conspired to ship crystal methamphetamine and counterfeit fentanyl-laced Oxycodone tablets, with the inscription “M30.”

For the most part, information included in the complaint focuses on Cox.

An investigation began in May. Homeland Security Investigation agents conducted surveillance on his home, where investigators believed cash payments had been sent. Cox later moved in with Johnson.

Around this time, police in Columbia, Tennessee investigated people linked to fentanyl sales there and discovered Snapchat messages from Cox, according to the criminal complaint.

Authorities said the messages indicated he was shipping drugs and getting payments in the mail.

Officials also reviewed the defendants’ Instagram accounts and Cox’s included photographs and videos of him displaying expensive jewelry, designer-brand clothing, accessories, luxury vehicles and cash, according to the complaint.

In court records, prosecutors described Cox as “an aspiring rap musician” using the moniker “Rosso” and they cited his lyrics as evidence of crimes.

In one video posted in June he sings “in Tennessee … making moves,” according to court records. He also alludes to contacts in Columbia, Tennessee, where Cox sings about associates selling “blues,” which is slang for fentanyl-laced pills.

He adds in the song: “This really my life, I ain’t say it just to sound cool,” prosecutors said in court records.

The Bay Area News Group first reported the case Wednesday.

An investigation into the trio’s social media accounts found communications that took place over the past 12 months between Cox and Molinero-Alcaraz. Officials believe the latter helped sell the narcotics.

“Our (money) lands tomorrow for the blues,” Cox says, prosecutors recounted in the complaint.

Molinero-Alcaraz responds “I need to find more buyers.”

Between December 2020 and August 2022, Molinero-Alcaraz used Venmo to send $14,000 to Cox, according to the complaint.

On July 25, Homeland Security investigators saw Cox and Johnson drop off a package at the UPS store in Sebastopol, according to the complaint.

Agents confiscated the package, which was being sent to Nashville. It contained “thousands of counterfeit fentanyl-laced Oxycodone ‘M30’ tablets” weighing about 2.4 kilograms, officials said, adding that it also had 3.65 kilograms of meth.

On Aug. 9, agents saw Cox send two more packages and they were seized in Tennessee, officials said, adding that one contained 472 grams “M30” tablets, while the other had 1,810 grams of meth.

Search warrants were served on Johnson’s and Cox’s home, according to court records. In those searches, investigators confiscated 5,000 counterfeit M-30 pills, about 16 pounds of marijuana, and a fake Drug Enforcement Administration badge in Johnson’s car.

At Molinero-Alcaraz’s home, investigators found 500 fentanyl-laced pills, an AK-47-style pistol, over 100 rounds of ammunition, and 3 pounds of marijuana, according to the complaint.

Hearings for the defendants are scheduled for Sept. 29.