Feds charge suspect in violent Oakland home invasion with trafficking meth and fentanyl

OAKLAND — A 29-year-old Oakland man has been charged with distributing methamphetamine and fentanyl, after authorities raided his residence in a home invasion and assault case and allegedly seized distribution-level quantities of both drugs, court records show.

Maxfer Palma was under investigation in a March home invasion that targeted a woman who had previously lived with Palma and at least two of the other suspects, when Oakland police raided his apartment on Foothill Boulevard. They seized more than 200 grams of fentanyl and more than four pounds of methamphetamine, along with two unregistered guns, authorities said.

Palma has not been charged in connection with the home invasion, but was indicted on charges of drug trafficking, one of which carries a mandatory minimum 10-year prison term, court records show.

A federal judge at a July 13 court hearing ordered that Palma remain jailed while the case is pending. His next court date has been set for Aug. 22.

The investigation into Palma started March 13, when five masked men — two armed with guns — burst into an apartment on Harmon Avenue in East Oakland where a woman and man were living. The woman later told police that though the robbers wore masks, she recognized their voices and could identify them, authorities said.

Palma’s Foothill Boulevard home was raided a month later. Authorities have not revealed the suspected motive for the home invasion but say both victims were beaten and bloodied, and required medical treatment. The man was beaten by firearms until he lost consciousness and awoke later that evening at Highland Hospital, authorities say.

Eleven days after the Foothill Boulevard raid, police arrested Palma in San Francisco. In that instance, police found 400 grams of methamphetamine and a gun inside a bag being possessed by another person, whom they contend was serving as Palma’s “bag man” to lessen his risk of prosecution, according to court records.