TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Florida Attorney General James Usmeyer announced that four defendants have been arrested and charged in connection with an interstate drug trafficking operation for allegedly transporting approximately 60 kilograms of cocaine from El Paso, Texas, to the Tampa Bay area.
The defendants were identified as Daniel Cruz Pinares, Arturo Carlos, Joaquín Enriquez, and Jesús Guadalupe Chan Morales. Each is charged with cocaine trafficking and conspiracy.
“This operation dismantled a dangerous cartel pipeline flooding Florida communities with cocaine,” Usmayer said. “Thanks to the incredible work of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, FDLE, and prosecutors across the state, we have removed 60 kilograms of poison from our streets and are holding the traffickers fully accountable.”
Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office detectives began surveillance of a suspected drug trafficking organization on July 11, according to the Attorney General’s Office. Investigators worked with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement through the State Assistance Program to Combat Fentanyl.
Authorities said investigators identified a monthly supply pattern involving a white Freightliner semi-truck. Two alleged members of the organization were seen retrieving the bags from a truck at Wesley Chapel and transporting them in a tracked vehicle to a scheduled handover with Pinares at a parking lot in Tampa.
Investigators later stopped Pinares and found three suitcases containing an estimated 60 kilograms (about 132 pounds) of cocaine, the attorney general’s office said. The substance reportedly tested positive for cocaine during field testing.
Enriquez, Morales and Carlos were also taken into custody without incident.
The defendants are charged with conspiracy to traffic in amounts ranging from 400 grams to 150 kilograms of cocaine. If convicted of the current charges, he faces a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison in the Florida Department of Corrections.
Authorities said the investigation is ongoing and additional arrests and charges are expected.
Senior Statewide Prosecutor Ryan Shaw is prosecuting the case in Florida’s 6th and 13th Judicial Circuits. A charge is a suspicion, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
