Mariano Enrique Arroyo Perez, Cocaine Conspiracy, New Jersey 2024
A Puerto Rican man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiring to distribute over 250 kilograms of cocaine, according to a recent sentencing by U.S. District Judge Esther Salas.
Mariano Enrique Arroyo Perez, 29, was sentenced to 120 months in prison for his involvement in a conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, as per a superseding indictment.
Arroyo Perez and his conspirators sought to bring cocaine into the United States using private planes, with one shipment intercepted by law enforcement officers in November 2018. The plane, which was transporting approximately 150 kilograms of cocaine from Puerto Rico to New Jersey, was stopped after the pilots became suspicious of four passengers who were not on the flight manifest.
The passengers, who were found to be carrying heavy luggage containing cocaine, were arrested in connection with the crime. In addition to the prison term, Judge Salas sentenced Arroyo Perez to five years of supervised release.
The case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation, which identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.
U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger credited special agents and task force officers with the Drug Enforcement Administration in New Jersey and Colombia, as well as the U.S. Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Marshals Service, for their assistance in the case.
The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Repole, Chief of the General Crimes Unit in Newark, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Francesca Liquori, Chief of the OCDETF Unit in Newark.
Defendant: Mariano Enrique Arroyo Perez, aka 'Humilde'
Charges: Conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine
City and state: Newark, New Jersey
Date: November 18, 2018 (crime date)
Sentence: 120 months in prison, plus five years of supervised release
Key Facts
- State: New Jersey
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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