cocaine

UPS employees charged with trafficking cocaine

Published

2 years ago

March 1, 2023

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McALLEN, Texas – A total of five people have been arrested on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Orlando Candelario Almanza, 49, Edinburg, and Fidencio Salinas Jr., 51, Pharr, are set to make their initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nadia S. Medrano at 9:30 a.m. today.

Also arrested last week and who made their appearance already were Javier Enrique Mendoza, 48, Pharr, and Jose Felipe Lozano, 58, Edinburg. Enrique Bernardo Gamez, 45, Hidalgo, was previously in custody on related charges and will make his appearance in the near future.

The multi-count indictment was returned Feb. 21 and unsealed upon the arrests last week.

On multiple occasions between March 24 through Oct. 3, 2022, the indictment alleges the five individuals conspired to transport cocaine through UPS packages.

Salinas and Almanza are both allegedly UPS employees who knowingly transported the packages of cocaine. The charges allege Mendoza provided the packages of cocaine to UPS employees, while Lozano allegedly provided fraudulent labels for the packages. Gamez stored the cocaine at his residence prior to transport, according to the charges.

Law enforcement seized approximately 60 kilograms of cocaine these individuals allegedly trafficked.

If convicted, they all face up to life in prison and a possible $10 million fine.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, Hidalgo County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force and FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Garcia is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.

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ABC (Australia News) Victorian men jailed over attempted ‘astronomical’ cocaine import into South Australia

Published

4 weeks ago

January 30, 2025

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In short:

Two men have been sentenced to three years’ jail with a non-parole period of 18 months for trying to import more than 100 kilograms of cocaine into South Australia.

The judge said the pair had followed the drugs from WA to SA on the instruction of their drug dealers in order to pay off drug debts they had accumulated.

What’s next?

The men’s sentences have been backdated to when they were first imprisoned last February and they will both be eligible for parole in August.

Two young Victorian men who were involved in the attempted importation of an “astronomical” amount of cocaine into South Australia have been labelled “muppets” and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.

Rayn Sadik, 20, and Yousif Al-Asadi, 23, were sentenced in South Australia’s District Court on Wednesday after they each entered a guilty plea to one count of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border controlled drug last year.

The maximum penalty for that offence is life imprisonment or a fine of $2,347,500.

More at

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-29/victorian-men-sentenced-over-attempt-to-import-100kg-of-cocaine/104870476

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Military-trained narcos arrested in three tonne cocaine bust in south of Spain: Kalashnikov assault rifles among weapons seized

Published

1 month ago

January 18, 2025

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NEARLY three tonnes of cocaine and four military-grade weapons have been seized in a major drug bust along the Guadalquivir River in Sevilla.

Spanish police reported that the men had ‘paramilitary training’ and were armed with what appeared to be Kalashnikov assault rifles.

The presence of such weapons suggests a level of organisation and capacity for violence far beyond typical drug smuggling operations.

Military-trained narcos arrested in three tonne cocaine bust in south of Spain: Kalashnikov assault rifles among weapons seized

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Shipment of grapes entering Canada hid massive stash of suspected cocaine

Published

4 months ago

November 3, 2024

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More than 600 kilograms of suspected cocaine — roughly the weight of a concert grand piano — was discovered inside a shipment of grapes intercepted by border officers earlier this month.

The seizure took place on Oct. 15 at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont.

A spokesperson for the Canada Border Services Agency says an investigation is underway with law enforcement partners.

The agency declined an interview and said it doesn’t comment on the status of ongoing investigations.

CBSA hasn’t provided an estimate of the street value of the 615 kilograms, but earlier this year estimated the value of a cocaine seizure less than half this size at $6.5 million.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/ambassador-bridge-cocaine-grapes-1.7368639

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