Five members of the alleged drug trafficking group were arrested Tuesday and charged with driving hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cocaine and cash between Los Angeles and New York City, federal authorities said.
The group’s alleged leaders – David “Gotti” Rodriguez and Raymond “Gotti” Rodriguez and Raymond “White Boy” O’Connell – purchased and stored large quantities of cocaine distributed throughout the East Coast on multiple drug dealers and crime businesses allegations in Los Angeles, and then arrested the costs of several of their drug trafficking and crime businesses.
Nohely Jimenez-Ruiz and Lorna “Cookie” Martinez of Los Angeles were arrested on Tuesday for the action, the statement said. Jamel Donald Levy and Bruce Adams of New York and Cindy Rachel Imbert of New Jersey were also arrested.
Federal authorities accused Rodriguez and O’Connell of using downtown Los Angeles jewelry stores as a complex drug operation for the frontline statement said money laundering and spreading it through the organization.
In total, at least 800 packages containing 22 tons of cocaine were shipped from Los Angeles to New York, with an estimated value of about $315 million. Shipping from New York to Los Angeles, there are 500 additional packages containing at least $105 million in cocaine and cash.
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 are charged with one count of engaging in an ongoing criminal business, one conspiracy to distribute and possess cocaine, money laundering and several other drug-related charges. If convicted, everyone could face mandatory life in federal prison, the statement said.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Central California said five other defendants face various criminal conspiracies, drug trafficking and money laundering charges.
The statement said law enforcement officers are still looking for other suspects in New York.
