A Honduran drug-dealer who commuted from Oakland to the Tenderloin each day to sell fentanyl, and who made so much money plying his trade that he required a cash counting machine, appeared in federal court today and was warned that he faces more charges that could carry a ten year mandatory minimum sentence.
Marcos Carcamo, 25, was arrested in a joint operation by federal, state and local law enforcement. He told police that he traveled to San Francisco because it was “easier” to sell his wares in the city.
A subsequent search of his cars, house and an adjacent accessory dwelling unit, turned up 6.14 pounds of narcotics including fentanyl, crack cocaine and methamphetamine, $58,926 in cash, a Polymer 80 ‘ghost gun’ plus 50 rounds of 9mm ammunition, digital scales, a press, and a bill counter.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa Cisneros rejected a defense proposal to release Carcamo to a halfway house before trial and ordered that he be detained.
“I do have concerns about the possibility of non-appearance,” she said.
“The pretrial report I’ve got is: he’s been here two years and the proposed surety is his brother who has a number of arrests…and been involved in drug dealing as well.”
After he sold fentanyl to an undercover SFPD officer on August 1 2023, police placed a GPS device on Carcamo’s silver Chevrolet Cruz which tracked him traveling between his Oakland home and San Francisco almost every evening.
One week later, having been trailed by a surveillance team, he was arrested as he arrived in the city and parked on Gough Street between Eddy and Turk. He had 147 grams of narcotics and $709 cash on his person and in his car.
A search of his residence on 72nd Avenue in Oakland began with an accessory dwelling unit on the property. As officers announced themselves at the ADU’s front door, Carcamo’s brother jumped out of a window and ran away. A search uncovered $47,198 in a safe, another $866 in a bedroom, the handgun and ammunition, 51 grams of fentanyl, other drugs, five cellphones and keys to a 2018 Infiniti.
More cash and substantial quantities of drugs, including 1785 grams of fentanyl, were found in the Infiniti.
Inside the main residence, which Carcamo shared with other family members, police found $5,390 cash in a refrigerator, $1,582 in a toilet and $3,174 in various rooms. Large amount of illegal drugs were hidden in a dishwasher and a toilet. Plastic tubs, a press and a money counting machine were also found in the house.
Carcamo had come to authorities’ attention less than two weeks before when he threw unopened soda cans at an unmarked SFPD car driving near the intersection of Franklin Street and Turk Street. Irritated officers gave chase, found the defendant hiding in a liquor store, and released him with a warning.
When interviewed at the Tenderloin Police Station, Carcamo admitted to possessing the fentanyl, crack cocaine and methamphetamine he was found with and to some of the drugs found in the residence in Oakland and in the Infiniti. He denied any knowledge of the firearm found in the ADU.
He told police that he chose to sell drugs in San Francisco because it is “easier” to sell drugs in the city.
Asking the court to detain Carcamo before trial, U.S. Attorney Kevin Yeh said he was a danger to the community and a flight risk because of his links to Honduras and the “severe punishment” he faces.
“One need only look to the stunning amount of narcotics he possessed – enough to kill every single person living in San Francisco, and then some – to begin to grasp what a threat Carcamo poses,” Yeh wrote in a motion to detain.
The defendant is presently charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment. Yeh observed that laboratory tests of drugs are ongoing and the results could lead to him being charged under a statute that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment.
Carcamo will return to court on October 24 for further proceedings.
This morning’s criminal duty calendar at San Francisco federal courthouse gave an indication that federal efforts to combat Tenderloin drug dealing perpetrated by illegal aliens continue apace. A dozen recently-arrested defendants appeared to answer ‘possession with intent to supply’ charges with each requiring the services of one of three Spanish interpreters on standby.
A Government attorney indicated that in four cases either an offer had been made, or was likely to be forthcoming, for a defendant to be ‘fast tracked’ – which is to say they can plead guilty, be sentenced to time served, and referred for deportation in about a month.
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