14 kilograms of cocaine

Four Connecticut residents charged after more than 14 kilos discovered during eight-month investigation

Striking an apparent blow to a drug ring operating in central Connecticut, federal authorities working an eightmonth investigation seized more than 14 kilograms of cocaine shipped from Puerto Rico to destinations in Connecticut and other places in the region.

Striking an apparent blow to a drug ring operating in central Connecticut, federal authorities working an eight-month investigation seized more than 14 kilograms of cocaine shipped from Puerto Rico to destinations in Connecticut and other places in the region.

The investigation, detailed in 59-page criminal complaint unsealed Monday, shows that investigators from the U.S. Postal Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration tracked 60 packages sent between April and December of last year, developing a nexus between Puerto Rico and Connecticut.

Armed with search warrants, they opened five of the packages, all sent from the same region of Puerto Rico, and discovered a total of 14 kilograms of cocaine, packaged in bricks, the complaint said.

Marcos Mendez, Miguel Freytes and Jorge Freytes, of Bristol, along with Evangeline Colon, of Plainville, were taken into custody and charged with conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine.

At least two suspected members of the organization who lived in Puerto Rico had their names redacted in the criminal complaint. It is unclear whether they have been taken into custody. They may also have shipped cocaine into the Worcester, Mass., area, the complaint said.

The complaint, filed by a member of a DEA task force, does not say what tipped investigators off to the shipments initially. According to the complaint, a member of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service began connecting the packages after focusing on similarities, including where they were coming from, the handwriting on the labels and the phony return addresses.

Accessing postal service business records, the agent discovered connections among the packages in the company’s tracking system.

The lengthy complaint shows that a number of packages carried the similar sender names, including Richardo Morales and Roy Morales.

Investigators watched accused members of the drug ring wait for hours outside addresses in Meriden to which they had little or no connection. Once the packages were delivered, the suspected members would get out of their cars, scoop the parcels up and leave, the complaint shows.

At times, as investigators watched, the suspects attempted to identify any authorities in the area. While one suspect waited

for the package, others would circle the block in what investigators said were apparent counter-surveillance tactics, according to the federal complaint. After picking up packages, the suspects would drive in circular patterns, forcing investigators to call off their surveillance, the complaint said.

During surveillance in September outside a home on Collins Street in Meriden, investigators spotted

Miguel Freytes waiting for an apparent delivery, and once the package was left at the home, he got out of his car, picked up the package and then tossed it in his trunk, the complaint said.

The investigators followed Miguel Freytes’ Toyota Corolla to a Bristol Cumberland Farms store, where he got out of the car, went inside and scanned the parking lot from the window, according to the complaint.

In apparent attempts to spot authorities, Miguel Freytes walked in and out of the store, looking around the parking lot and road,

investigators said in the complaint.

Through late summer and into the fall, investigators intercepted the five packages that hey searched, the complaint read. Each time they stopped a package, they learned it was being tracked in conjunction with several other packages, all bearing similar labels. Two of the intercepted packages contained 4 kilograms of cocaine, while the other three concealed 2 kilograms each of the drug.

Investigators, tracking the suspects’ phones, developed connections among

the suspects’ homes and were drawn to a storage facility frequented by some of the members, the complaint read.

The criminal complaint, filed last week, asks a U.S. District Court judge to approve the search of two of the suspects homes and two containers at the storage facility. It is unclear whether any of the places identified in the complaint have been searched.

Each of the four suspects arrested in the case have been held by federal authorities after making initial appearances in federal court.