Florida racketeering charges filed after $2.1M Sinaloa Cartel cocaine bust

TAMPA, Fla. - Florida has announced additional charges after law enforcement officers dismantled one of the largest drug trafficking rings in Tampa Bay history after an investigation linked a local cocaine operation directly to the Sinaloa cartel. 

Sinaloa cartel drug bust

The backstory:

Officials said what began as a routine local drug seizure expanded into a sweep targeting a Sinaloa cartel distribution network shipping thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the region from Texas. 

Deputies arrested Daniel Pinales on July 11 with 60 kilograms of cocaine in his hands, according to Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri. Pinales, who lived in Brandon but maintained deep ties to Pinellas County, remains in jail on a $10.1 million bail and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison. 

Investigators with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement used wiretaps during a three-year probe to uncover the full operation. Gualtieri said Pinales obtained kilograms of cocaine from a source in El Paso, Texas, and stored the drugs in Tampa stash houses before selling them to local street-level distributors. 

"I believe the evidence is going to clearly establish that this drug trafficking organization is responsible for putting well over 500 kilograms of cocaine on the streets of Pinellas County," Gualtieri said. 

The smuggling operation used two inoperable truck tractors as props, making it appear as though the vehicles were being towed across the country, according to officials. Investigators said suspects from Texas drove the hidden drugs to Florida, checked into a hotel in Wesley Chapel, and transferred duffel bags of cocaine to Pinales in SUV-to-rental car meetings after dark. Pinales then returned duffel bags filled with cash to the Texas suspects to drive back across state lines, according to investigators. 

Law enforcement officers seized $2.1 million worth of cocaine during the operation. Authorities noted that the network also distributed cocaine into Illinois, Pennsylvania, and across the Midwest and Northeast. 

Suspects now face charges of racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering, alongside initial trafficking charges filed over the summer. 

What's next:

Uthmeier noted that additional arrests may be announced soon as investigators continue combing through evidence. 

Tampa Bay law enforcement impact

What they're saying:

"What started as an initial seizure, a decent case, turned into a dismantling of the entire stream of cocaine coming into this region from the cartel," Uthmeier said. "These people are going to go away for a very long time." 

Gualtieri called the probe the most significant investigation in the Tampa Bay Area by any agency in the last 40 years due to the scope and reach into the Sinaloa cartel. 

"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 during a press conference in July about the case. "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." 

TampaCrime and Public Safety