SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – On March 23, 2022, a federal grand jury returned an eight-count indictment charging three individuals for drug trafficking, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The United States Postal Inspection Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case, titled Operation Air Fryer Express.
According to court documents, Héctor Colón-Rosario, Edgardo Colón-Pons, and Carlos Neftalí Torres-Santiago were arrested on March 31, 2022, for the large-scale distribution of kilogram quantities of cocaine to the continental United States. The indictment alleges that starting in June of 2020, the defendants used the United States Postal Service to send kilograms of cocaine to the continental United States. Specifically, these three defendants purchased new household appliances such as air fryers, among other things, and concealed kilograms of cocaine in those newly bought items. They would mail those items in larger boxes by way of the United States Postal Service to Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Florida, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Maryland. Other co-conspirators would receive the cocaine-laden shipments for further distribution.
The defendants made their initial court appearance yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Marcos E. López of the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. If convicted, the defendants face a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Vance Eaton is prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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