Drug Ring That Hid Cocaine In Chili Pepper Shipment Busted In BK

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — A 50-year-old man was found guilty in Brooklyn court Thursday for a scheme that brought cocaine hidden in a shipment of chili peppers into the U.S., prosecutors said.

Humberto Baez, who works as a produce importer in Pennsylvania, imported 16 kilograms of cocaine from the Dominican Republic in the chili pepper boxes last year. Prosecutors said Baez used Brooklyn's Red Hook Terminal to do a "dry run" of produce imports to make it seem like he had a legitimate business before smuggling the drug-filled shipment into Miami.

Drug enforcement agents, tipped off by one of Baez's contact who he didn't know was a DEA informant, found and searched the shipment after when it was on its way from Miami to Pennsylvania.

"The defendant's scheme to conceal 16 kilograms of cocaine in a shipment of chili peppers wasn't such a hot idea," said Richard Donaghue, the United States Attorney for Eastern District of New York. "...And with today's verdict, he has been held responsible for his crimes."

A jury found Baez guilty of possessing and conspiring to import and distribute cocaine. He faces a minimum of 10 years in prison.

Drug enforcement agents said it wasn't the first time drug smugglers tried creative methods to get their product into the country. The DEA has also seen drugs hidden in bananas, floor tiles, exotic statues and even animals, DEA Special Agent-in-Charge Ray Donovan said.

"This conviction sends a message to drug trafficking organizations that law enforcement is on watch," he said.

Baez shipped the cocaine in February last year and used the code word "ripe tomatoes" to tell his informants that it had drugs inside, prosecutors said. The drug bust took place on March 1, 2018 after Baez asked the person cooperating with the DEA that he was working with to send the shipment to him in Pennsylvania.

Photos provided by the U.S. Attorney's Office.