FLORIDA – Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that four people were arrested on July 11 in an interstate cocaine trafficking conspiracy that transported about 60 kilograms of cocaine from El Paso, Texas, into the Tampa Bay area.
“This operation dismantled a dangerous cartel pipeline flooding Florida communities with cocaine,” Uthmeier said. “Thanks to the outstanding work of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, FDLE, and our Statewide Prosecutors, we have removed 60 kilograms of poison from our streets and are holding these traffickers fully accountable.”
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Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office detectives, working with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement through the State Assistance for Fentanyl Eradication (SAFE) program, conducted surveillance of a drug trafficking organization and identified a pattern of monthly shipments involving white Freightliner semi‑trucks, officials said.
Investigators observed two members retrieving bags from the semi‑trucks in Wesley Chapel and moving them in a chase vehicle to a handoff with Daniel Cruz Pinales in a Tampa parking lot, according to the announcement.
Pinales was stopped with three suitcases that contained an estimated 60 kilograms of cocaine, which field‑tested positive for the substance. Joaquin Enriquez, Jesus Guadalupe Chan Morales and Arturo Carlos were taken into custody without incident, officials said.
The defendants — Pinales, Carlos, Enriquez and Morales — face charges of trafficking in cocaine (400 grams to 150 kilograms) and conspiracy. Under the current charges, they face a mandatory minimum of 15 years in the Florida Department of Corrections.
The investigation is ongoing and authorities said more charges and arrests are expected.