The Drug Enforcement Administration announced Tuesday that a shipment of cocaine weighing 920 kilos was seized by three New Jersey drug traffickers. This is the largest bust in the Northeast in a decade.
The DEA revealed details of the September operation after a New York federal grand jury indicted Jorge Aponte-Guzmán, 33; Nelson Agramonte-Minaya, 37; and Carlos Maisonet-López, 32, on Monday.
The three men are accused of conspiring with the intent to distribute and possess five kilograms of cocaine between September 2021 and August 2021.
Ray Donovan, DEA special agents in charge, said that a multimillion-dollar supply of cocaine was seized before it could cause havoc in Northeast. It was the largest cocaine seizure in New York City for over a decade, with more than one ton being seized.
The DEA disclosed Tuesday that agents and New Jersey and New York authorities participated in an operation that allowed the federal agency to seize 20 lawn rollers containing 960 kilos cocaine. This was the largest bust in the Northeast in 10 years. Details were revealed after a New York federal court grand jury indicted Jorge Aponte-Guzmán, 33; Nelson Agramonte-Minaya, 37; and Carlos Maisonet-López, 32, on Monday
The street value of the cocaine confiscated from Puerto Rico and brought to a loading dock at New Jersey is $368 million
According to the federal narcotics agency, the drugs were shipped from Puerto Rico and kept at a loading dock in New Jersey by the suspects who planned to pick them up.
The DEA indicated that approximately on September 29, Aponte-Guzmán drove a rental van to the dock and then headed to an abandoned lot next to residential property. Maisonet-López approached the vehicle before authorities swarmed in and arrested him and Aponte-Guzmán. Agramonte Minaya, also found at basement entry level, was also taken into custody
Officers searched the van and found 10 lawn mowers, which were imported from Puerto Rico. The pallets also contained a Bronx consignee address. Agents cut the lawn rollers, and found 460 kilos cocaine.
On September 30, authorities arrived at the loading dock to discover 10 additional lawn rollers containing 460 kilos cocaine that had arrived from the Caribbean Island the day before. It came from the same Bronx address that had been financially responsible for receiving the shipments.
Investigators were told by dock workers that delivery had been made the day before.
According to the DEA cocaine confiscations have increased by over 150% in the past 12 months.
‘DEA and our law enforcement partners will continue to guard against drug trafficking organizations’ tactics and techniques to smuggle drugs into our country,’ Donovan said.
The DEA’s 2020 National Drug Threat Assessment identified Puerto Rico, as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands, as a key hub from drug trafficking organizations that ship cocaine to the United States because the cargo shipments between these U.S. territories and the continental United States are considered domestic and not subject to inspection.
According to the agency’s annual report, cocaine is the main drug threat in the Caribbean, with Puerto Rico, the USVI, and other South American countries serving as major transshipment points for cocaine-producing nations in South America and the continental United States.
According to the DEA, ‘It is estimated that a quarter of the cocaine and heroin trafficked into Puerto Rico or the USVI remains for local use, but most of it is smuggled onto the continental United States. “Traffickers hide cocaine in parcels that are mailed from Puerto Rico or the USVI to Florida, the northeastern United States and New York, primarily Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York.”