A New Haven drug dealer was sentenced to 12 years in prison this week for cocaine trafficking offenses, according to federal authorities.
Jose Rodriguez-Caraballo, also known as “Puma,” 33, also was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven to five years of supervised release, according to federal authorities.
Authorities said the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force executed a federal search warrant on a suspicious package that had been sent through the U.S. Mail from New Haven to Puerto Rico in Nov. 2020 and found it contained $102,450 in cash.
The investigation revealed “an associate of Rodriguez-Caraballo was supervising the receipt of numerous parcels containing kilogram quantities of cocaine that had been shipped from Puerto Rico to addresses in and around New Haven, the resale of the cocaine to others, and the shipment of narcotics proceeds to individuals in Puerto Rico,” federal authorities said in a statement. “During the investigation, law enforcement intercepted multiple parcels of cocaine and U.S. currency that was sent through the U.S. Mail.”
It also revealed Rodriguez-Caraballo “picked up cocaine parcels from the addresses they were shipped to, repackaged the cocaine, and helped distribute it to other drug sellers and customers.”
Rodriguez-Caraballo was arrested in March 2021, after “he traveled with a co-conspirator to a location in Milford to sell two kilograms of cocaine for $86,000,” the statement said. “Investigators seized the cocaine and a loaded 9mm handgun from their vehicle.”
Rodriguez-Caraballo pleaded guilty in January to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, and one count of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, federal authorities said.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the New Haven Police Department. The Task Force includes members from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Postal Service – Office of the Inspector General, the Connecticut Army National Guard, and the Hartford, New Britain, Meriden and Town of Groton police departments.
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