Puerto Rican Smuggler Accused Of Flooding NYC With Cocaine

NEW YORK, NY — Prosecutors on Wednesday charged a Puerto Rican man with orchestrating a mail-order drug ring that distributed millions of dollars worth of cocaine throughout New York City and the eastern U.S.

Authorities extradited Noris Gautier-Rios of San Juan, Puerto Rico to Manhattan on Monday after a 13-month investigation led by the New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor's office.

Gautier-Rios, 44, was a "major narcotics supplier" who shipped "hundreds of pounds of Colombian cocaine" from Puerto Rico to be sold in the U.S., prosecutors said.

Five other people, including three from the Bronx, have been charged for their roles drug ring, which authorities say earned Gautier-Rios $2 million over 10 months.

“This narcotics organization operated a lucrative, interstate mail-order business, the success of which depended upon elaborate systems of packaging, shipping and payment," the special narcotics prosecutor, Bridget G. Brennan, said in a statement. "However, it was only a matter of time before law enforcement began intercepting packages and the multi-million dollar scheme unraveled."

Gautier-Rios allegedly shipped loads of cocaine packed in silicone-wrapped metal cosmetics boxes to addresses in New York and Rhode Island, prosecutors said. Once they arrived, cronies of Santos "Apache" Maisonet-Roman, a drug trafficker from the Bronx, would pick them up to be sold, prosecutors said.

Masionet-Roman bought the drugs from Gautier-Rios for an average price of $28,000 per kilogram, meaning the network moved more than 150 pounds of cocaine over a 10-month period, prosecutors said. The operation expanded to import drugs to Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Florida.

Maisonet-Roman's girlfriend, Linette Tossas-Mojica of the Bronx, also helped receive the drug shipments, prosecutors said. Agents found a list of quantities and prices for drugs and a notebook full of package tracking numbers in Masionet-Roman and Tossas-Mojica's apartment in the Bronx's Kingsbridge neighborhood, prosecutors said.

Maisonet-Roman's son and brother, Leonardo Maisonet-Figueroa and Victor Manuel Roman-Ramos of Providence, Rhode Island, helped distribute the drugs, prosecutors said. And Bronx drug dealer Fidel Sanchez provided addresses where Gautier-Rios shipped the cocaine, prosecutors said. All three have pleaded guilty to charges stemming from their role in the operation, prosecutors said.

Gautier-Rios was arraigned Wednesday on charges of conspiracy, criminal possession of a controlled substance and attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance. He previously did prison time for his role in an attempted murder plot that targeted a public official, prosecutors said.

Maisonet-Roman and Tossas-Mojica each face charges of conspiracy and criminal possession of a controlled substance. They were arrested in March.

(Lead image: Noris Gautier-Rios, center, was extradited to Manhattan from Puerto Rico on Monday, prosecutors said. Photo from the New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor's Office)