Two Texas men caught bringing five kilograms of cocaine into Atlantic City were sentenced to prison Friday.
Esiquio Salgado, 34, was sentenced to 12 years in state prison, with five years of parole ineligibility. Cristano Ramirez, 31, received a 10-year term, with three years without parole.
Both men pleaded guilty in
June to first-degree possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.
Salgado and Ramirez were arrested in October, after an investigation by the Atlantic City Task Force and the ICE Homeland Security Investigations got information that the men were dealing kilogram quantities of cocaine into South Jersey. The investigation revealed that a delivery was being made in Atlantic City on Oct. 18.
When the two arrived at the unnamed location, they were in a vehicle with Connecticut license plates — and had cocaine in a duffel bag with a street value of about $230,000, according to the charges.
“Over the past six years, the Atlantic City Task Force has made hundreds of arrests of drug dealers and violent felons, seizing guns and large quantities of narcotics,” Attorney General Christopher Porrino. “This is another example of the excellent work they are doing to protect the people of Atlantic City and the surrounding communities.”
“We’ve ensured that these major drug traffickers will spend a long time behind bars, where they can no longer fuel addiction and violence in our communities,” said Elie Honig, director of the Division of Criminal Justice. “I commend the Atlantic City Task Force and its federal partners for this bust and all of the proactive work they do to target drug dealing and violent crime in the region.”
Since its formation in 2011, the Atlantic City Task Force has made more than 965 arrests and has executed over 100 search warrants. The task force has seized nearly 100 guns and a total of approximately 12 kilograms of heroin, 13 kilograms of cocaine, and almost a half-million dollars in U.S. currency.
https://breakingac.com/texas-men-indicted-for-allegedly-trafficking-five-kilos-of-cocaine-into-south-jersey/
