Drug trafficking ring dismantled as Pinellas County deputies seize 132 pounds of cocaine worth $2.1M

LARGO, Fla. - A multi-agency investigation ended with the arrest of several people and the dismantling of a massive drug trafficking organization based in Pinellas County, according to the sheriff's office.

Pinellas County drug ring dismantled

What we know:

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri announced the dismantling of a major drug ring headed by 35-year-old Daniel Pinales.

Investigators learned Pinales lived in Brandon but had deep ties to Pinellas County, where they say he distributed multiple kilograms of cocaine obtained from a source in El Paso, Texas.

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement conducted several investigations, using wiretaps to uncover the full scope of the network. Sheriff Bob Gualtieri says they’ve been investigating Pinales for three years with the FDLE’s help.

"I'll acknowledge, kind of hate to acknowledge it, I guess, but he's pretty good at what he did, and he eluded us, but he wasn't good enough," Gualtieri said.

The investigation revealed that the organization used a monthly routine to transport the illicit cargo in truck tractors. The suspects, according to Gualtieri, used two inoperable tractors as props to hide the cocaine while traveling from Texas to Florida.

Two inoperable truck tractors used by the drug trafficking organization as props to hide and transport kilograms of cocaine from El Paso, Texas, to Florida. 

"It was good cover and like I said, you know I give them a little bit of credit, not much because you know they're doing some really, really bad stuff, but they were cautious and smart, just not smart enough for our people," the sheriff said.

Drug trafficking investigation 

Dig deeper:

The sheriff says the suspects from Texas would check in to a hotel in Wesley Chapel, wait for it to get dark and meet Pinales elsewhere in an SUV. Pinales would be in a rental car, and they’d transfer the drugs in duffel bags, the sheriff said.

Then, the sheriff says, Pinales would stash the drugs in an apartment in Tampa, and then distribute the cocaine to multiple people who’d sell it to people in Pinellas County and bring the money back to Daniel Pinales. The sheriff says Pinales would bring the money in duffel bags back to the suspects from Texas, who’d drive the money back to Texas.

Detectives believe they moved about $1 million on each monthly trip.

"The cocaine is displayed here on the table, and it has a street value of about $2.1 million," Gualtieri said at the press conference Tuesday. "In this one shipment alone, we seized about 132 pounds of cocaine that was going to be sold on the streets of Pinellas County. And again, remember, this was happening every single month."

Gualtieri said Pinales only operated a few days a month, part of the reason he was able to elude detectives.

"We watched them extensively, and all he did was go to the gym all day and hang out. So, you know, not anymore."

They found out one of those days was this past Saturday, surveilled them starting Friday, and around eight p.m. Saturday, the Texas suspects met Pinales in Tampa to transfer $2.1 million of cocaine.

Pinales ran, the sheriff said, but was arrested, and the others were too.

Gualtieri noted this is the single-largest drug seizure in Pinellas County in more than 40 years, with the ring moving an estimated 700 kilos of cocaine annually.

Deputies arrested nine people total. 

Pinales is charged with cocaine trafficking, and faces a minimum of 15 years in state prison. The sheriff said this is an ongoing investigation. He said the suspects from Texas were delivering the drug to other parts of the country too.

Pinellas CountyCrime and Public Safety