Cila Melgar Rodriguez, a 36-year-old resident of Hyattsville, Maryland, was sentenced today to a decade in federal prison for his involvement in a drug trafficking operation that distributed significant amounts of cocaine and crack cocaine across the District of Columbia and Maryland.
The announcement of the sentence was made by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro, FBI Assistant in Charge Steven J. Jensen, Special Agent in Charge Ibrar A. Mian from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Washington Division, Acting Special Agent in Charge Christopher Heck from Homeland Security Investigations’ Washington Division, and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
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Rodriguez, who is also known by the alias “Paipa,” entered a guilty plea on February 27, 2025, to charges of conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and crack cocaine before U.S. District Court Judge John Bates. He further admitted to his leadership role within the cocaine trafficking organization. In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Bates mandated that Rodriguez undergo five years of supervised release and imposed a forfeiture order amounting to $100,000.
Court records indicate that on August 12, 2023, one of Rodriguez’s associates agreed to sell five kilograms of cocaine to a confidential informant for $120,000. On August 18, 2023, the involved co-conspirators proceeded to a Costco parking lot to finalize the transaction. DEA agents apprehended the co-conspirators at that location. Although Rodriguez was not present during the arrest, he had supplied the cocaine and orchestrated the deal. Law enforcement recovered a loaded Smith and Wesson .38 caliber revolver from the vehicle of a co-defendant, along with a canvas bag containing over 3.6 kilograms of cocaine.
Earlier on the same day, the co-conspirators had met with Rodriguez outside an apartment building in Northwest Washington, where he provided them with the cocaine that was later seized during the undercover operation.
This investigation and prosecution were conducted under the Violent Crime and Narcotics Trafficking (VCNT) Section’s jurisdiction. The VCNT Section aims to disrupt and dismantle significant sources of violence and large-scale firearms and drug trafficking within the District, targeting their principal actors both locally and globally. The section prioritizes proactive, intelligence-driven investigations that are long- and medium-term in nature, focusing particularly on violent crews and conspiracies, collective criminal behavior, and habitual offenders.
This case involved collaboration between the DEA, FBI, HSI, and ICE. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney George P. Eliopoulos from the VCNT Section, with substantial assistance from Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Javier Urbina, Ernesto J. Alvarado, Timothy J. Coley, and Adam Stempel.
