Man Who Smuggled Drugs In Chili Peppers Gets 13 Yrs In BK: Feds

BROOKLYN, NY — A produce importer who smuggled 16 kilograms of cocaine into the United States in a shipment of chili peppers was sentenced this week to 13 years in prison, according to prosecutors.

Humberto Baez, 52, was sentenced Thursday, more than two years after he was convicted on conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute charges for his cocaine-smuggling scheme, prosecutors said.

Investigators caught Baez, who is from Pennsylvania, smuggling 16 kilograms of cocaine into Miami in February 2018 after he had used Red Hook Terminal in Brooklyn for two "dry run" shipments in the years before, according to prosecutors.

The cocaine was concealed in the flaps of cardboard boxes that held the produce, which law enforcement officials said is a common ruse for hiding the drugs.

“Concealing drug shipments with produce is one way drug traffickers try to elude
law enforcement," DEA Special Agent-In-Charge Ray Donovan said. "This cat and mouse game evolves over time resulting in law enforcement recovering drugs in various places; such as inside coconuts, wheelchairs, animals, people, tombstones, etc. just to name a few."

The two "dry run" shipments that Baez arranged to come into Red Hook were filled with only produce in an attempt to make it seem like he had a legitimate business, prosecutors said.

The third shipment, containing the cocaine, was searched and seized by law enforcement when it was on its way from Miami to Baez's warehouse in Pennsylvania, officials said.

Baez was caught telling contacts who he didn't know were DEA informants that the third shipment had "ripe tomatoes," a code word used to say cocaine would be in the trucks, according to officials.

Baez's conviction came in February 2019 after a two-week trial.