- United Parcel Service workers allegedly helped to import and traffic thousands of pounds of drugs and fake vape pens across the country during the past decade, the Washington Post reported, citing police sources.
- The group of UPS employees allegedly ensured the contraband safely passed through the mail carrier's trucking and delivery systems, evading security protocols and law enforcement, officials told the Post.
- "They've been doing it for so long that they were truly comfortable that they were never going to get caught," a police sergeant told the Post.
- Police seized a boat, a Corvette, and a Range Rover during one raid, the Post reported. They also found 50,000 counterfeit THC vaping pens in a storage locker, as well as cash, weed, and ledgers hidden under a Jacuzzi.
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A pack of United Parcel Service workers allegedly helped to import and traffic thousands of pounds of drugs and fake vape pens across the country during the past decade, the Washington Post reported, citing police sources.
The UPS employees allegedly used their knowledge of the mail carrier's inner workings to ensure the contraband, packed in standard cardboard boxes, passed through its trucking and delivery systems and evaded security protocols and law enforcement, officials told the Post.
The packages - containing weed, vape pens, or more lucrative narcotics - were transported eastward from a distribution facility in Tucson, Arizona. Large amounts of cash were shipped back to the city, authorities told the Wall Street Journal. The alleged perpetrators splurged their profits on lavish properties, vacations, and vehicles, detectives told the Post.
Local investigators tracked the accused ringleader, Mario Barcelo - a 20-year veteran of UPS and a dispatch supervisor in Tucson - for at least 10 years, the Post reported. Barcelo abused his position to bypass security measures and ensure the drugs were loaded onto the right trucks and delivered on time and without interference, authorities told the newspaper. He was arrested earlier this month.
"He's been able to provide this service to drug traffickers without being detected both internally and externally by law enforcement for years," William Kaderly, a Tucson police sergeant, told the Post. "They've been doing it for so long that they were truly comfortable that they were never going to get caught."
Officials arrested another UPS supervisor and two company drivers this month, charging them with money laundering, drug possession, and distribution, the Post reported. Seven other people are facing charges for allegedly assisting with shipments and running stash houses, the newspaper said.
A UPS spokesperson told the Journal that the delivery giant is aware of the arrests and cooperating with law enforcement, but declined to comment further given the investigation is ongoing. UPS didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
The task force broke the case through a combination of wiretapping, going undercover as drug traffickers, organizing shipments of fake cocaine and cash, and placing GPS devices inside the boxes to track them from the alleged conspirators' homes to the UPS hub then out onto the road, the Post reported.
Their efforts led them to Raul Garcia Cordova, who was arrested last week on more than a dozen charges, the Post said.
Police raided Cordova's mansion, seizing a boat, a Corvette, and a Range Rover, the Post reported. They also found 50,000 counterfeit THC vaping pens in a storage locker, as well as cash, weed, and ledgers hidden under a Jacuzzi. Recent raids have seized other narcotics and drug-making equipment, the Journal said.
