A drug ring was responsible for smuggling hundreds of kilograms of cocaine into Central Florida from Puerto Rico through the mail, Orange County Sheriff John Mina said Monday while announcing the arrests of nine people allegedly connected to the operation.
The ring was led in Central Florida by 27-year-old Michael Hernandez Maldonado and 24-year-old Paola Sierra, Mina said, while the rest of the local ring included Hernandez Maldonado’s family members and close associates. Once the cocaine arrived in Central Florida, the ring group used hidden compartments, or “traps”, in vehicles to move the cocaine to customers, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
The arrests were part of Operation: It’s A Trap, which saw law enforcement recover over 40 kilograms of cocaine, $1.13 million in cash and nearly 30 firearms, Mina said.
“Anytime we take down a drug trafficking organization like this [with this] amount of cocaine and the amount of money and firearms, the Central Florida area is definitely safer,” the sheriff said.
The investigation into the ring began in August after law enforcement was tipped off by a confidential informant, one investigator said. Investigators learned that the ring was laundering its drug proceeds through shell companies owned by members of the group, according to the news release.
Hernandez Maldonado is facing charges of trafficking in cocaine. Sierra and the other seven suspects are facing charges of conspiracy to traffic in cocaine, the release said. One investigator at the news conference said there is another suspect in Puerto Rico wanted in the case and that they are looking into other potential suspects.
Mina said the ring’s activities stretched as far as Polk County and that the Polk Sheriff’s Office, along with police from St. Petersburg and Clearwater, assisted in the investigation. Federal agencies involved include the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Department of Homeland Security.