An Alaska man allegedly attempted to transport drugs from the Rio Grande Valley to his residence using the U.S. Postal Service, records show.
Joshuahed Rosario Velez filed a notice last week that he would be pleading true to drug conspiracy charges related to an investigation into the alleged use of the post office to transport a little more than a kilogram of cocaine to his residence in Alaska.
In October 2018, Drug Enforcement Administration agents received information regarding the coordination of a parcel of drugs from the Valley to Rosario’s residence in Alaska, a criminal complaint against Rosario stated.
A month later, agents received information that Rosario would be in McAllen to coordinate additional loads of cocaine destined for Alaska.
Subsequently, agents surveilled Rosario on Nov. 3, 2018, as he met with another person at an airport in Brownsville.
Two days later, DEA agents introduced an undercover informant to Rosario.
“During the recorded undercover meeting, Rosario negotiated the purchase of 10 kilograms of cocaine from the undercover agent. In the days following the meeting, Rosario also communicated on the telephone with the undercover agent regarding the pending cocaine transaction,” the court record showed.
In January 2019, as part of a four-person indictment, Rosario was charged with multiple counts of drug conspiracy and the sale, distribution of a controlled substance, records show.
In April 2019, Rosario pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him; only to change his mind last week when he pleaded true to the charges he is facing.
According to court notes, Rosario is scheduled to be re-arraigned in the near future and is expected to plead guilty to a drug conspiracy charge to avoid a jury trial.
