A group of five men were arrested and accused for moving drugs through a scheme that involved UPS employees, the U.S. attorney of the Southern District of Texas announced Monday.
The investigation involving the Drug Enforcement Administration, Hidalgo County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force and FBI yielded its first arrest on July 26, 2022, when DEA agents found drugs inside the home of Enrique Bernardo Gamez, 45, from Hidalgo.
Agents who searched Gamez’s home found a cardboard box in his bedroom containing over 540 grams of cocaine, 57 additional brick-shaped packages of cocaine that weighed 62 kilograms, and $21,000 in cash, according to the criminal complaint.
After his arrest, Gamez told agents he knew there was cocaine in the attic of the house and said he was paid to store the drugs. He also told agents he transported the stored cocaine to unknown individuals for a payment.
An original indictment dated August 2022 was later amended and unsealed last week to include other defendants.
On Friday, the other four defendants were arrested: Orlando Candelario Almanza, 49, from Edinburg; Fidencio Salinas Jr., 51, from Pharr; Javier Enrique Mendoza, 48, from Pharr, and Jose Felipe Lozano, 58, from Edinburg.
Salinas and Almanza both worked at UPS and knowingly moved the packages of drugs, according to Monday’s news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.
On several occasions between March through October last year, the indictment alleged the five defendants conspired to transport cocaine through UPS packages.
“The charges allege Mendoza provided the packages of cocaine to UPS employees, while Lozano allegedly provided fraudulent labels for the packages,” the news release stated. “Gamez stored the cocaine at his residence prior to transport, according to the charges.”
Gamez, Mendoza and Salazar were charged by indictment with conspiracy to distribute drugs from March 24 to Oct. 3, 2022.
Mendoza and Lozano were charged with the possession of 480 grams of cocaine on March 24, 2022.
Gamez and Lozano face another charge involving 4 kilograms of cocaine from March 25, 2022.
And Gamez alone faces the charge for the 57 kilograms of cocaine found in his residence last July.
Three other counts were also listed on the indictment for defendants whose names were redacted.
Almanza and Salinas both had their initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nadia S. Medrano on Monday morning. Mendoza and Lozano appeared before the judge last week. Gamez’s initial appearance is still pending.
If convicted, they all face up to life in prison and a possible $10 million fine.
