Federal agents say that a 32-year-old Florida man taken into custody on the morning of March 10 has ties to a powerful Mexican drug cartel. The man was apprehended when agents working out of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Jacksonville District Office executed a search warrant at his residence. The raid brought what the DEA dubbed Operation Python to a close. The investigation into the activities of the Cartel Jalisco New Generation drug cartel was launched on Sept. 1.
Federal agents arrived at the man’s Jacksonville home at approximately 8:30 a.m. He was taken into custody without incident shortly after agents forced the home’s door open. Inside the residence, agents allegedly discovered, drugs, cash, firearms and stolen property. Agents believe the man’s customers exchanged the stolen goods for drugs. The man faces ten narcotics and firearms charges and is being held at the John E. Goode Pre-trial Detention Facility on a $50,000 bond.
According to the DEA, the CJNG cartel uses hubs in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta to distribute drugs around the United States. The man is alleged to have received the drugs he distributed from cartel contacts in Atlanta. During the six months of Operation Python, agents seized more than 78 kilograms of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl. Agents also took at least 30 guns off the streets and say that the man’s arrest could lead to additional seizures in the coming months.
When their clients were taken into custody during narcotics operations like this one and the evidence gathered at the scene appears to be overwhelming, experienced criminal defense attorneys may recommend entering into plea negotiations. Juries are highly unpredictable, and federal prosecutors may offer to reduce drug charges and penalties significantly to avoid arguing before them. Plea offers could be especially attractive when the suspect involved has information that law enforcement would find useful.
