A man living in Bristol, Connecticut, USA, has been sentenced to prison for the role he played in a conspiracy to traffic kilograms of cocaine from Puerto Rico to the United States using the United States Postal Service (USPS) and the dark web.
In the course of the investigation, federal investigators seized 14 kilograms of cocaine:
Striking an apparent blow to a drug ring operating in central Connecticut, federal authorities working an eight-month investigation seized more than 14 kilograms of cocaine shipped from Puerto Rico to destinations in Connecticut and other places in the region.
The 42 year old man Miguel Freytes, was a resident of Bristol. He was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to being part of a drug trafficking ring which mailed kilograms of cocaine from Puerto Rico to Bristol, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Bristol, Connecticut
After an investigation conducted by the DEA and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Freytes was arrested. The Department of Justice (DOJ) provided an account of the investigation: it started after law enforcement “developed evidence regarding a drug trafficking organization that was sending USPS parcels containing kilograms of cocaine from Puerto Rico to Connecticut and Massachusetts.”
They say that Investigators intercepted and seized five suspicious packages sent to addresses in Connecticut and Massachusetts between July 2018 and December 2018. After they opened the packages, investigators found multiple blocks of cocaine.
Federal Investigators also conducted surveillance at the addresses owned by the recipients of the packages. Law enforcement made a number of controlled deliveries of seized drug packages. During the surveillance of the address, investigators saw Freytes and his accomplices, Marcos Mendez, Omar Mendez, and others accept the delivery of the packages. Further investigations by federal investigators revealed that Roberto Muniz, of Puerto Rico, sent the packages of cocaine to the defendants in Bristol.
Freytes was arrested and his accomplices were arrested by Law enforcement on January 9, 2019. The arrests resulted in the seizure of approximately 2.5 kilograms of cocaine, drug packaging material, and as more than $150,000 in cash. They also seized approximately one kilogram of cocaine from Freytes’ home.
Freytes and his accomplices were indicted by A federal grand jury on January 23, 2019, on charges of one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possession with intent to distribute 5kg or more of cocaine.
Freytes pleaded guilty to the charges on February 27, 2020. Two of his accomplices have also pleaded guilty while another two are still awaiting trial.
On July 15, 2021, US District Judge Victor A. Bolden sentenced Freytes to five years in federal prison with four years of supervised release.
