NEW YORK: Federal authorities have charged 37 people – including 14 from Philadelphia and three from South Jersey – in a drug-trafficking enterprise that smuggled more than a ton of heroin from Mexico, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.
An indictment unsealed Tuesday alleges that the defendants, led by brothers Antonio and Ismael Laredo of Cuernavaca, Mexico, hid heroin in car batteries, bumpers, and sealed fruit and vegetable cans. The Laredos’ organization supplied distributors in Philadelphia, Camden, New York, Chicago, and Atlanta.
Prosecutors allege that the Laredos’ organization ran street-level heroin bagging and packaging operations in Philadelphia. Quantities of 15 to 50 kilograms were regularly moved between Philadelphia and Chicago.
“This indictment and the arrests this morning are a significant victory in our efforts to combat drug trafficking,” said Zane David Memeger, who heads the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia. “Because of the persistent and collaborative efforts of multiple law enforcement agencies across the country, a major supplier of heroin to the Philadelphia region is out of business.”
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said 27 arrests were made Tuesday while one other defendant was previously in custody.
The 117-page indictment details how members shipped heroin from Mexico to Philadelphia through various means. Once, in 2012, about four kilograms of heroin was concealed in a car’s speaker box.
The charged residents of Philadelphia are: Francisco “Franci” Gonzalez Jose, 43; Darbin “Darbi” Vargas, 31; Gabriel Vargas, 26; Edwin Vidal, 27; Luis “Chupee” Vasquez, 41; Frank “Cojo” Christian Peralta, 24; Ariel “El Puro” Rodriguez, 21; Joel Peralta-Reyes, 24; Jhonny Mena-Mariano, 38; Samuel Perez, 46; Melvin Pagan, 36; Robert Delorbe, 46; Johana Lasals, 37; and Jose Luis Rojas-Hernandez, 37.
Also charged were Confesor Montalvo, 43, of Cherry Hill; Miguel “Chisito” Irizarry, 32, of Camden; and Jose “Drama” Ruiz, 42, of Camden.
The local defendants each face a minimum of 10 years in prison and fines of $10 million or more.
