Five alleged members of a drug trafficking organization were arrested Tuesday and accused of using luxury private shipping companies to fly hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of cocaine and cash between Los Angeles and New York City, federal authorities said.
The alleged ringleaders of the organization — David “Gotti” Rodriguez and Raymond “White Boy” O’Connell — spent several years orchestrating the purchase and storage of bulk quantities of cocaine in Los Angeles to distribute across the East Coast before their arrest on multiple drug trafficking and criminal enterprise charges last year, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office for the Central District of California.
On Tuesday, Nohely Jimenez-Ruiz and Lorna “Cookie” Martinez of Los Angeles were arrested in connection with the operation, the statement said. Jamel Donald Levy and Bruce Adams of New York and Cindy Rachel Imbert of New Jersey were also arrested.
Federal authorities have accused Rodriguez and O’Connell of using a downtown Los Angeles jewelry store as a front for a complex drug operation that used luxury freight companies to ship concealed containers of cocaine to New York City’s Diamond District, starting as far back as 2013. After shipping the drugs over state lines via air, O’Connell and Rodriguez allegedly shipped the proceeds back west, where co-conspirators are accused of laundering the money and disseminating it through the organization, the statement said.
Authorities said that, in total, at least 800 parcels containing 22 tons of cocaine were shipped from Los Angeles to New York, with an estimated value of about $315 million. An additional 500 parcels containing at least $105 million in cocaine and cash were transported from New York to Los Angeles.
During the investigation, law enforcement seized more than $2.8 million in cash, 1,600 pounds of cocaine, and high-end cars and jewelry allegedly purchased by the defendants, the statement said.
Rodriguez and O’Connell have been charged with one count of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, one count of conspiracy to distribute and possession of cocaine, money laundering and several other drug-related charges. If convicted, each could face a mandatory life sentence in federal prison, the statement said.
The five additional defendants face various criminal conspiracy, drug trafficking and money laundering charges, said a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office for the Central District of California.
Law enforcement officers are still searching for additional suspects in New York who are believed to have participated in the organization, according to the statement.
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