Federal prosecutors secured a guilty plea Thursday from a member of the violent Cameron Street gang in a case involving widespread drug trafficking and illegal firearms sales throughout Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood.
Jose Afonseca, 32, admitted to participating in a racketeering enterprise, conspiring to distribute over 500 grams of cocaine, and dealing firearms without a license. His sentencing is scheduled for January 30, 2025, before U.S. Senior District Court Judge William G. Young.
Court documents describe Cameron Street as a violent organization that maintains control over its Dorchester territory through intimidation and force. Investigators identified Afonseca as an active member who operated from a Somerville stash house, coordinating cocaine and crack cocaine distribution with other gang members.
During the investigation, authorities recorded Afonseca discussing illegal firearms acquisition and documented his sale of two firearms and more than thirty rounds of ammunition to a cooperating witness.
A raid conducted on April 15, 2022, yielded substantial evidence from the stash house, including nearly 400 grams of cocaine, two hydraulic presses, packaging materials, a digital scale, and almost $15,000 in cash.
Afonseca faces up to twenty years in prison on the racketeering conspiracy charge. The cocaine distribution charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years with a potential maximum of forty years and a $5 million fine. The illegal firearms dealing charge could add another five years to his sentence.
The case emerged from an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Strike Force Initiative, combining resources from multiple law enforcement agencies. Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy announced the guilty plea alongside officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Boston Police Department.
The investigation drew support from Massachusetts State Police, several county district attorneys’ offices, and police departments across multiple jurisdictions, including Canton, Quincy, Randolph, Somerville, Brockton, Malden, Stoughton, Rehoboth, and Pawtucket, R.I.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Pohl and Charles Dell’Anno are prosecuting the case. Other defendants named in the indictment maintain their presumption of innocence pending trial.
The OCDETF Strike Force Initiative establishes permanent multi-agency teams working collaboratively to dismantle significant drug trafficking and criminal organizations through intelligence-driven operations.
