currency, firearms, and ammunition in order to avoid detection from law enforcement. They would also rent different properties or locations using home rental applications like AirBnb, in order to use them as stash places to store kilogram quantities of heroin, cocaine, crack, marihuana, U.S. Members of the organization transported and distributed kilogram quantities of cocaine from Puerto Rico into the continental United States.Īs part of the conspiracy, the co-conspirators used abandoned apartments in the Public Housing Projects to prepare the drugs for distribution at the drug points. The object of the conspiracy was to operate a drug-trafficking organization to distribute controlled substances in many areas in the municipality of San Juan, and to ship narcotics to the Continental United States, for significant financial profit.ĭuring the course of the investigation, members of the conspiracy received shipments of narcotics at the coastlines of Puerto Rico from vessels that had traveled from Venezuela and Dominican Republic. The indictment alleges that from 2016 to the date of the return of the indictment, the drug trafficking organization distributed heroin, cocaine base (commonly known as “crack”), cocaine, marihuana, Oxycodone (Percocet), Alprazolam (Xanax), and Buprenorphine (Suboxone) within 1,000 feet of the Vista Hermosa, Villa España, and Luis Lloréns Public Housing Projects, and other areas nearby. “We know this doesn’t mean our work is done, and what I want tom make clear is that we won’t stop.” “It’s important to highlight that during today’s operation, we arrested various drug trafficking leaders in Puerto Rico,” said Joseph González, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI, San Juan Field Office. “This operation reflects the excellent collaboration between our state and federal law enforcement partners – coordinated through our OCDETF task force program.” Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. We continued to work non-stop to put an end to the organization’s violence, and today we have dismantled its drug trafficking activities,” said W. “Last year we arrested Carlos Manuel Cotto-Cruz, aka “Wasa”, the leader of this violent organization. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Rico Police Bureau (PRPB), San Juan and Carolina Strike Forces were in charge of the investigation of the case, with the collaboration of the United States Marshals Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (ICE HSI). Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – On May 17, 2022, a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment charging 41 violent gang members from the municipality of San Juan with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, possession and distribution of controlled substances, and firearms violations, announced W.
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