Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced several defendants have been charged with racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering for allegedly transporting thousands of kilograms of cocaine from Mexico through El Paso, Texas to the Tampa Bay area for distribution as part of a Sinaloa Cartel-linked enterprise.
The attorney general made the announcement while speaking at a press conference in Tampa this week.
“This investigation has completely dismantled a major Sinaloa Cartel pipeline that was flooding Florida communities with thousands of kilograms of cocaine,” Uthmeier said in a statement. “The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit formed a dedicated task force whose members traveled to Texas for weeks—navigating complex surveillance and security challenges—to take this down with our partners at FDLE, HSI, and El Paso PD. With multi-million-dollar bonds and the arrest of the organization’s number two, we are holding every level of this enterprise accountable and sending a clear message that Florida will not be a market for cartel drugs.”…