Lakewood Ranch mail carrier, boyfriend accused of using USPS to traffic cocaine from Puerto Rico
A Lakewood Ranch mail carrier and her boyfriend have been indicted on federal drug charges that allege they conspired to distribute cocaine sent from Puerto Rico through the mail.
Last week, a federal grand jury in Tampa handed up an indicted charging Bradenton residents Nathasha Prieto, 33, and Angel Hernandez Coss, 37, with conspiring to distribute and possession with the intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine.
If convicted, Prieto and Hernandez Coss will each face a mandatory minimum term of 10 years in federal prison.
According to a criminal complaint filed on Sept. 16, the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General was working with the Drug Enforcement Administration Tampa office and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office to track a drug trafficking ring.
In June, agents identified some suspicious packages sent from Puerto Rico to Lakewood Ranch believed to be narcotics on Prieto’s mail route.
Agents and detectives followed Prieto as she was scheduled to deliver four of the suspect packages. Each time, after the package was logged as delivered in the USPS system, investigators did not find the packages where they were said to be delivered.
Instead, Prieto would take the packages back to the Lakewood Ranch post office located at 5910 Post Blvd., Lakewood Ranch, and put them inside her Honda Acura and later take them home.
Investigators also watched as Hernandez left the home to take out some trash to a dumpster inside their community in which they later found the packaging for some of the packages in question. Shortly thereafter, he was seen leaving the house with a heavy duffle bag and backpack.
On Aug. 15, sheriff’s detectives pulled Prieto over near the intersection of State Road 70 and 51st Street East for not wearing a seatbelt. A K-9 checked and alerted detectives to narcotics in the car. The remaining two of the suspected packages were found and the drugs inside preemptively tested positive for cocaine.
Prieto and Hernandez Coss both agreed to speak with investigators, USPS OIG special agent Scott Cunningham said in the criminal complaint affidavit. She told them that had taken between 30 to 40 packages over the course of year and that she knew the packages had drugs in them.
Her boyfriend took full responsibility for running the operation but did not tell investigators where the drugs had gone.
This story was originally published October 11, 2022 at 12:44 PM.
