TAMPA, Fla. – Florida prosecutors have charged 10 people in connection with a Sinaloa Cartel-linked smuggling ring that moved thousands of kilograms of cocaine from Mexico to the Tampa Bay area, state officials announced.
The cross-country operation relied on commercial semi-trucks with chase vehicles to haul narcotics across the border at El Paso, Texas, and drive them straight into Florida on a monthly basis from at least December 2025 through July 2026.
The ring unraveled on July 11, 2026, when Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office detectives and Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents watched couriers hand over three duffle bags packed with about 60 kilograms of cocaine to local distributor Daniel Pinales. Officers arrested Pinales on the spot alongside members of the transport crew after the powder field-tested positive for cocaine…