Trucking news and briefs for Friday, Nov. 29, 2024:
Trucks/operators implicated in trafficker's guilty plea
A drug trafficker who recently pleaded guilty to federal charges related to trafficking narcotics and money laundering said she used 18-wheelers on multiple occasions to move drugs from Mexico to the U.S., and cash from the U.S. to Mexico.
Oralia Rodriguez Flores, 40, pled guilty to three federal charges related to her role in trafficking narcotics and money laundering for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
Flores, who lived in Clayton, North Carolina, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine, one count of distribution of methamphetamine, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. When sentenced, Flores faces up to life imprisonment.
“The CJNG cartel is one of Mexico’s most violent drug trafficking organizations,” said U.S. Attorney Michael F. Easley Jr. “Their brutal reign is bankrolled by American drug proceeds flowing back to cartel leaders. Our strategy is to systematically degrade the entire criminal network by taking down the traffickers running narcotics to the Carolinas and cutting off the cashflow back to Mexico. Our new Illicit Finance Task Force dismantles the financial infrastructure enabling illegal cashflows to disrupt the cartels’ financial incentives.”
[Related: Drug smuggling attempts worth millions busted at border]
According to information presented in court, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents determined that Flores, acting at the direction of a Mexican source of supply, was distributing kilogram quantities of narcotics to and from South Carolina customers. Agents used a variety of investigative techniques to conduct a controlled purchase of methamphetamine. The investigation revealed that Flores was selling kilograms of cocaine for $22,000 per kilogram.
On another occasion, Flores was observed picking up cocaine for a customer. She traveled from her home in Clayton to a Blythewood, South Carolina, hotel. Flores then told the customer she had 18 kilograms of cocaine and sent video evidence.
“Oralia Rodriguez Flores endangered countless individuals by trafficking in large quantities of deadly methamphetamine and cocaine,” said Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Division. “She knowingly and intentionally helped members from the violent CJNG cartel distribute their drugs and launder their money.”
During a later interview with agents, Flores admitted being involved with drug trafficking for approximately three years. She explained that she met drivers of tractor-trailers on five or six occasions to pick up cocaine from Mexico. Each shipment contained approximately 10 kilograms of cocaine. She then distributed the drugs to customers in South Carolina. Flores also said that her source of supply in Mexico sent the methamphetamine she distributed from Mexico to California, and then it was mailed to South Carolina.
Flores also laundered drug proceeds to Mexico. She admitted that she provided more than $1 million in cash to commercial truck drivers and that she delivered drug proceeds to runners for an Asian money laundering network that were then sent to the source of supply in Mexico. Flores also used money service businesses to wire money to Mexico.
[Related: Truck driver pleads guilty to cocaine possession, intent to distribute charges]
New Pilot adds 93 truck parking spaces in Alabama
A new Pilot travel center recently opened in Tuskegee, Alabama, at exit 38 off I-85.
The new location, at 3680 AL Highway 81, boasts 93 truck parking spaces, seven diesel lanes, extensive fresh food options including grab-and-go, hot meals and deli, and more.
Driver named Highway Angel for helping move disabled car out of travel lanes
Joel Perez, a truck driver for ABF Freight, has been named a Highway Angel by the Truckload Carriers Association for helping an elderly man whose car broke down in the middle of a highway.
On Oct. 31, Perez was driving on the Palmetto Expressway in Miami around 9 a.m., heading northbound. In the heavy traffic, he noticed a vehicle was blocking two left lanes of traffic.
“It was an old man broken down,” Perez said. “Nobody stopped to help the guy, so I stopped.”
Perez exited his truck and proceeded to help the 76-year-old man by pushing his vehicle off to the shoulder of the road to eliminate the potential for a very serious crash.
“I pushed his car by myself – nobody helped me,” he said, noting that people were honking at the man blocking traffic.
