NEW YORK, NY — Jorge Aponte-Guzman, 33, Nelson Agramonte-Minaya, 37, and Carlos Maisonet-Lopez, 32, were indicted yesterday for their participation in a drug trafficking conspiracy. 920 kilograms of cocaine (2,028 pounds or just over one ton) was seized in September, making it the largest seizure in the Northeast in a decade.
(photos courtesy of DEA)
The men are charged with conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least five kilograms of cocaine, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The U.S. Attorney thanked the Westchester County Office of Public Safety and local police departments in Mount Vernon, Port Chester, White Plains, and Yonkers.
A DOJ spokesperson decline to provide details of the role played by local police.
According to the allegations in the Indictment unsealed yesterday in Manhattan federal court and in other public court documents.
On or about September 29, 2021, Aponte-Guzman traveled in a rental van from a loading dock in New Jersey to the area of a New Jersey residence, where he was met by Maisonet-Lopez and Agramonte-Minaya. Inside the rental van driven by Aponte-Guzman, law enforcement seized approximately 460 kilograms of cocaine that were packaged inside 10 large metal lawn rollers. Records relating to the shipment of the lawn rollers indicate that the lawn rollers were shipped from Puerto Rico to New Jersey, with a consignee in the Bronx, New York.
The next day, on or about September 30, 2021, DEA agents seized a substantially similar shipment of 10 large metal lawn rollers from the loading dock that Aponte-Guzman had visited the day before. In that second shipment, agents found an additional approximately 460 kilograms of cocaine.
Jorge Aponte-Guzman, Nelson Agramonte-Minaya, and Carlos Maisonet-Lopez were arrested on September 29, 2021, and were presented before United States Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein on September 30, in the cases of Nelson Agramonte-Minaya, and Carlos Maisonet-Lopez, and on October 1, in the case of Jorge Aponte-Guzman.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “This investigation has yielded the seizure of approximately 920 kilograms of cocaine, disrupting an alleged narcotics trafficking organization. Thanks to our partners at the DEA, this massive quantity of dangerous drugs has been kept off the streets.”
DEA Special Agent in Charge Ray Donovan said: “A multimillion-dollar storm of cocaine was seized before it could wreak havoc in the Northeast. Over one ton of cocaine was seized, making it the largest cocaine seizure destined for the streets of New York in over a decade. This seizure signifies a shift in the illegal drug landscape in New York, with cocaine seizures rising more than 150% in the last year. DEA and our law enforcement partners will continue to guard against drug trafficking organizations’ tactics and techniques to smuggle drugs into our country.”
Westchester County Police Commissioner Thomas A. Gleason said: “A seizure of this magnitude underscores the critical importance of working together with our federal and local law enforcement partners in the DEA Westchester Task Force. The tremendous work and dedication of the DEA and Task Force Investigators has interrupted a major drug distribution operation and prevented approximately one ton of dangerous, illegal narcotics from being distributed on the streets of our area.”
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the New York Division of the DEA, the Westchester County Department of Public Safety, and the Mt. Vernon Police Department. Mr. Williams also thanked the Westchester Resident Office of the DEA, the Port Authority Police Department, the New Rochelle Police Department, the Port Chester Police Department, the White Plains Police Department, and the Yonkers Police Department for their assistance in the investigation.
The case is assigned to United States District Judge Alison J. Nathan.
The maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants would be determined by the assigned judge.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Narcotics Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Kevin Mead and Samuel P. Rothschild are in charge of the prosecution.