Hey, there! Log in / Register

Feds: Drug ring sent air fryers packed with kilos of coke to non-existent people at local houses, where they waited for letter carriers to drop them off

A Hyde Park man is among nine people charged today with running a coke ring that imported the drug from Puerto Rico through parcel post.

Oscar Nieves-Sosa of Davison Street in Hyde Park and the eight other men were charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base in a case unsealed this morning in US District Court. A Dorchester man was named in an affidavit by a Postal inspector on the case, but was not among those formally charged. Patrick Joseph of Stoughton was named as the ring leader.

According to the affidavit, the men commonly often imported their drugs by packing them either in air fryers or air-fryer boxes and then shipping them to a variety of addresses in eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

In many cases, the affidavit says, the 20-pound packages, which typically included some 4 1/2 pounds of cocaine, would be shipped to people who didn't exist at real addresses. Ring members would then wait in a car outside the addresses and, after the letter carrier dropped them off, would retrieve them and then drive off. The affidavit describes one of the packages:

Parcel #8 contained an air fryer. Hidden inside the air fryer were two plastic-wrapped, brick-shaped bundles of a white compressed powder, both of which field-tested positive for cocaine and weighed approximately one kilogram each. Investigators have seized other cocaine parcels that concealed cocaine inside air fryers and have observed members of the [ring] transporting air fryer boxes and discarding air fryer packaging, including on January 23, 2021.

Ring members did sometimes have the air fryers sent directly to their own homes, the affidavit states. In one case, the affidavit continues, a letter carrier dropped one of the parcels at Nieves-Sosa's front door, but he did not come out at first to retrieve it, waiting until after a bit of anti-surveillance surveillance by another possible ring member in a Mercedes who slowly drove down the block, then parked:

I am familiar with the black Mercedes because I have observed it transporting other suspicious parcels in the past. This day, I believe the driver of the black Mercedes was conducting counter-surveillance in an effort to identify law enforcement.

The driver, an unidentified Hispanic male, parked, exited the black Mercedes, and walked down the street while scanning parked vehicles in the area. I believe that the driver of the black Mercedes was continuing his counter-surveillance effort on foot. The driver then re-entered the black Mercedes and drove away.

Only then did Nieves-Sosa come out and get the box, the affidavit states.

The affidavit lists Nieves-Sosa as a ring courier, who was observed picking up air-fryer cocaine, which he would then ferry to 1 Webster Ave. in Chelsea, where an apartment served as a drug distribution center.

Innocent, etc.

Complete affidavit (6M PDF).

Neighborhoods: 
Topics: 


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Comments

Is one of the newer buildings in town. (read white people). Surprised no one caught onto this yet.

Also, an airfryer with a kilo of cocaine. I'd feel like I just won the lottery. God knows that airfyer won't get much use.

up
Voting closed 0

Imagine if we just legalized cocaine? The amount of money we would have saved is amazing. The cost of this investigation, the cost of the jail time for the ring members. Damn.

up
Voting closed 0

As someone who used to like coke 'a little too much'. Not so sure I feel about this.

I like to use the drug harm scale to decide.

Coke's pretty high up there in both user harm and harm of others.

Vs Mushrooms which has the lowest (even more so than cannabis). I see why states are legalizing MDMA, Shrooms, and LSD... they are less harmful than cannabis!

But coke. Not so sure. I know of alot of people who, myself included, who spiraled out of control. And yes I know Alcohol is widely available, I've seen people go do Connie's road (coke addiction) too fast and too many times.

Like everything with coke.. everything happens faster. Including addiction.

up
Voting closed 0

The drug harm scale you reference would assume the person abusing alcohol is a worst case example (i.e. drink from morning to bed daily) which is not what most alcohol abusers are doing. Stimulants and opiates are far easier to get hooked on 24/7/365 + lie/cheat/hurt everyone in your life. As you know (and I know too) stimulants have a crushing level of addiction. I guess I'm not disagreeing with your points, but I think the drug harm scale is flawed.

up
Voting closed 0

About cocaine. Steroids seem really low on the harm to others index. Roid rage is real and leads to a lot of domestic abuse. See Jared Remy.

up
Voting closed 0

Prohibition is not a deterrent though. Just because these things are harmful doesn't mean that incarceration is an effective way to address addiction. Just look at Portugal. Their rates of drug use and drug related deaths have been way below the EU average since they decriminalized all drugs 20 years ago. We have a big problem in this country where we view law enforcement as the solution to every problem, even when we have mountains of evidence showing how destructive that approach is in a wide variety of cases.

up
Voting closed 0

Cocaine, Heroin, and all sorts of other drugs are illegal there. The difference is that they don't send you to jail for simple possession. It's tough to get a non-biased source, but all agree on this point. More here.

up
Voting closed 0

Thank you.

I agree with decriminalization. Legalization is a bit different.

Decrim = wont get arrested with it

Legal = can go buy Coca Cola with Real Coke again / Glass coffee tables will be the biggest home trend next year.

up
Voting closed 0

That doesn't contradict anything I said...

up
Voting closed 0

You noted that prohibition is not a deterrent (your subject line, and what is the law of the land in Portugal) yet you (rightly) note that Portugal has decriminalized drugs. Still, doing what these guys did would land them in jail if they did it in Porto as much as if they did it in Boston.

The argument can be made that what Portugal does, which is to encourage treatment for those who are caught with drugs and offering them punishment that does not involve jail time if they refuse while devoting law enforcement resources to those who contribute to the supply issues, has helped lower the rates of drug use in the country.

up
Voting closed 0

Sorry Cybah... I used to shoot dope & do lots of coke & still stand by my comment. I will always default to personal agency over government oversight. Every single time. Drugs, alcohol, screen time, ice cream consumption, racking up credit card debt... all of it. We are adults. Addiction is dangerous sure, but the energy & resources & money we (as a society) put into prohibiting what is subjectively "bad" is absurd.

up
Voting closed 1

What if they legalized the coca leaf in the US? An above board importation system would pay the farmers, end the eradication programs and allow the leaf to be imported legally to the US. I've had the tea, it's as stimulating as a strong cup of coffee so why not allow it? I'm not a strong advocate of this, it's just a thought I had because having tea from the leaf is pretty benign.

up
Voting closed 0

I agree with this. In travels online I remember reading an article that talked the locals in Columbia use the leaf to make tea and use it akin to way we use caffeine. Its the process to make cocaine (the powder) and how its (mostly) inhaled is really key. The leaf is relatively harmless when eaten or used as tea. But made into powder that you stuff up your nose.. thats where the problem is.

My only concern.. much like we've see with cold meds that contain pseudoephedrine that are now behind the counter because people have figured out a way to make methamphetamine from them. I would be concerned that someone would figure out how take what is imported and make cocaine from it.

I also agree with it being used again as a local anesthetic, which was its original intent in the late 1800s. It worked well.. trust me I know. I walked into a door once back in the day. Didn't feel a single thing, but had a nice shiner the next day. That was some good stuff if I recall......

up
Voting closed 0

It's gonna be a bloodbath.

up
Voting closed 0

So these guys came up with a pretty good supply chain.....imagine if they put their skills to use for something legal, maybe they could fix our Healthcare system......if only we could encentcize criminals to use their skills for legal trade of goods....

up
Voting closed 0

will now enter the lexicon.

up
Voting closed 0

air fryers packed with kilos of coke

What a time to be alive.

up
Voting closed 0