Groton man gets 18 months for drug trafficking

‘Runner’ helped bring ‘large quantities of cocaine’ to the state

A Groton man was sentenced to federal prison for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy that involved bringing in “large quantities of cocaine” from Puerto Rico to distribute in Connecticut and other states, according to federal authorities.

Steven Collazo, 32, was sentenced last week by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in

Hartford to a total of 18 months in prison, as well as three years of supervised release, which includes three months in home detention, according to federal authorities.

Collazo is free on a $100,000 bond and is scheduled to report to prison on Oct. 4.

Authorities said Collazo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine on Nov. 10, 2022, in a case he was involved in that saw “large quantities of cocaine” sent through U.S. Mail from Puerto Rico.

Authorities, citing court documents and statements made in court, said the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force and Drug Enforcement Administration in April 2021 began an investigation into a cocaine trafficking operation headed by Carlos Antonio Crespo-Febus, who was “coordinating the shipment of parcels, typically containing two kilograms of cocaine, from U.S. Post Offices in Puerto Rico to various ‘drop addresses’ “in Connecticut’s New London County.

Collazo was the primary “runner” for Crespo-Febus, and “picked up parcels from the drop addresses and delivered them to Crespo-Febus” in New London, federal authorities said in a statement.

“Investigators intercepted and seized approximately 16 kilograms of cocaine that were mailed from Puerto Rico to Connecticut, and identified dozens of other suspicious parcels that likely contained kilogram quantities of cocaine,” federal authorities said in the statement.

Crespo-Febus and Collazo were arrested on Sept. 20, 2021.

Crespo-Febus, of New London, pleaded guilty on Oct. 21, 2022 and is being held while his sentencing is pending, federal authorities said.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration, with help from the New London and Town of Groton police departments, federal authorities said. The task force includes members from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Postal Service — Office of the Inspector General, Connecticut Army National Guard, and the Hartford, New Britain, Meriden and Town of Groton police departments.