TRENTON, N.J. – A Los Angeles man was sentenced today to 120
months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to traffic five kilograms of
cocaine and four kilograms of heroin that were hidden inside large pieces of
hydraulic machinery, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Eduardo Barragan Zuninga, 31, previously pleaded guilty
before U.S. District Court Judge Peter G. Sheridan to an information charging
him with one count of conspiring to distribute heroin and cocaine. Judge
Sheridan imposed the sentence today in Trenton federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements
made in court:
From March 2015 through March 2016, Zuninga, Fermin Nunez,
46, also of Los Angeles, and others plotted to hide cocaine and heroin, and the
proceeds from narcotics transactions, inside large pieces of hydraulic
machinery and ship them across the country.
Nunez arranged for the drugs to be shipped from California
to the east coast for distribution by Zuninga and others in the New York
metropolitan area. Nunez, with Zuninga’s assistance, similarly arranged for the
shipment of the distribution proceeds back to California.
Execution of two search warrants at the conclusion of an
investigation conducted by the FBI, in cooperation with local law enforcement partners
in Los Angeles, resulted in the seizure of approximately five kilograms of
cocaine and four kilograms of heroin from a warehouse in Pennsylvania, and over
$260,000 in suspected narcotics proceeds from a piece of hydraulic machinery in
a California storage facility.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Sheridan sentenced
Zuninga to five years of supervised release. Nunez previously pleaded guilty to
his role in the conspiracy and awaits sentencing.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents with the
FBI, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Bradley W. Cohen in
Newark, the Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task
Force (L.A. IMPACT) and the Los Angeles Police Department, under the direction
of Chief Charlie Beck, with the investigation.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney
Molly S. Lorber of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Trenton.
Defense counsel: Lisa Van Hoeck Esq., Assistant Federal
Public Defender, Trenton
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