Philly Man Admits South Jersey, PA Cocaine Trafficking Scheme: Feds

PHILADELPHIA, PA - A Philadelphia man admitted Wednesday to conspiring to distribute over 100 kilograms of cocaine as part of a drug-trafficking organization in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey, federal officials said.

Iran Soler, 43, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Christine P. O’Hearn in Camden federal court to one count of conspiring to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Soler and his co-conspirators traveled to Puerto Rico on commercial flights from Philadelphia International Airport several times between March 2019 and August 2020 to buy multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine from wholesale drug suppliers.

Soler and his confederates then shipped over 100 kilograms of cocaine via U.S. Post Offices in San Juan to various addresses in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey where a conspirator resold the cocaine to other drug dealers in the Philadelphia area for a profit.

The drug-trafficking conspiracy charge carries a mandatory penalty of 10 years in prison, a maximum potential penalty of life in prison, and a maximum fine of $10 million.

Soler is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 6, 2023.