{"id":59371,"date":"2025-09-16T21:16:28","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T01:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/?p=59371"},"modified":"2025-09-16T21:16:29","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T01:16:29","slug":"5-arrested-in-los-angeles-new-york-cocaine-trafficking-ring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/5-arrested-in-los-angeles-new-york-cocaine-trafficking-ring\/","title":{"rendered":"5 arrested in Los Angeles\u2013New York cocaine trafficking ring"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Five people have been arrested on federal charges accusing them of helping run a multimillion-dollar drug trafficking operation that shipped more than 22 tons of cocaine and $100 million in cash between Los Angeles and New York, according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Three of the defendants were arrested in New York and New Jersey on Tuesday, while two others were taken into custody in Los Angeles, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-cdca\/pr\/5-defendants-arrested-federal-charges-alleging-bicoastal-drug-trafficking-organization\">according<\/a> to the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the Central District of California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities said the group is part of a larger drug trafficking organization led by David Rodriguez, 45, of New Jersey, and Raymond O\u2019Connell, 39, of New York, who have been in federal custody since last year. Both are charged with running a continuing criminal enterprise and could face mandatory life sentences if convicted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prosecutors said members of the organization used freight companies that specialize in high-value goods such as jewelry and art to ship locked plastic cases filled with cocaine from downtown Los Angeles to New York City\u2019s Diamond District. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They also directed shipments of drug proceeds back to California, where the money was laundered before being sent to others in the network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Investigators said at least 1,300 parcels were shipped between Los Angeles and New York, including more than 800 parcels containing cocaine with a declared weight of 22 tons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prosecutors estimated the wholesale value of the shipments at roughly $315 million. About 500 parcels carrying more than $105 million in cash were allegedly sent back to Los Angeles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the investigation, law enforcement seized nearly 1,600 pounds of cocaine, more than $2.8 million in cash, and luxury cars and jewelry believed to have been purchased with drug money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two suspects, Daniel Vega, 52, and Gregory Antonio Benitez, 40, both of New York City, remain at large.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Drug Enforcement Administration, IRS Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service led the investigation, with assistance from federal, state, and local agencies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Five people have been arrested on federal charges accusing them of helping run a multimillion-dollar drug trafficking operation that shipped more than 22 tons of cocaine and $100 million in cash between Los Angeles and New York, according to prosecutors. Three of the defendants were arrested in New York and New Jersey on Tuesday, while [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":19349,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[67,2187,472,2764,151],"class_list":["post-59371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal","tag-california","tag-drug-trafficking","tag-los-angeles-california","tag-new-york-city-new-york","tag-united-states"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>5 arrested in Los Angeles\u2013New York cocaine trafficking ring - BNO News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/5-arrested-in-los-angeles-new-york-cocaine-trafficking-ring\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 arrested in Los Angeles\u2013New York cocaine trafficking ring - BNO News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Five people have been arrested on federal charges accusing them of helping run a multimillion-dollar drug trafficking operation that shipped more than 22 tons of cocaine and $100 million in cash between Los Angeles and New York, according to prosecutors. Three of the defendants were arrested in New York and New Jersey on Tuesday, while [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/5-arrested-in-los-angeles-new-york-cocaine-trafficking-ring\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BNO News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bnonews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-17T01:16:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-17T01:16:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/11052019Cocaine.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carlos Robles\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@bnonews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bnonews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carlos Robles\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/5-arrested-in-los-angeles-new-york-cocaine-trafficking-ring\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/5-arrested-in-los-angeles-new-york-cocaine-trafficking-ring\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Carlos Robles\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0a2ca734b9c5688c0e2d40fe6f33add1\"},\"headline\":\"5 arrested in Los Angeles\u2013New York cocaine trafficking ring\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-17T01:16:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-17T01:16:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/5-arrested-in-los-angeles-new-york-cocaine-trafficking-ring\/\"},\"wordCount\":323,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/5-arrested-in-los-angeles-new-york-cocaine-trafficking-ring\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/11052019Cocaine.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"California\",\"Drug Trafficking\",\"Los Angeles (California)\",\"New York City (New York)\",\"United States\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Legal\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/5-arrested-in-los-angeles-new-york-cocaine-trafficking-ring\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/5-arrested-in-los-angeles-new-york-cocaine-trafficking-ring\/\",\"name\":\"5 arrested in Los Angeles\u2013New York cocaine trafficking ring - 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