A Puerto Rican man was sentenced to a little over seven years imprisonment on drug conspiracy charges, United States Attorney Delia L. Smith announced Friday.
Emanuel Campbell Camacho was sentenced to 87 months of imprisonment on his conviction of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, according to the press release.
According to court documents, on Sept. 22, 2020, Drug Enforcement Administration agents learned that Campbell Camacho and Carlos Rafael Velez-Lopez, both of Puerto Rico, had traveled by commercial flight from Puerto Rico to St. Thomas and were driving a purple Jeep Wrangler. After two days of surveillance, agents observed Campbell Camacho leave the Windward Passage Hotel as the passenger of a blue Mazda sedan traveled to a parking lot at Mandela Circle. Campbell Camacho exited his vehicle and leaned into the passenger side of another vehicle parked next to his vehicle. Moments later, Campbell Camacho removed a large duffle bag from the parked vehicle and placed it inside his vehicle. Agents followed Campbell Camacho back to Windward Passage Hotel and observed him carrying the duffle bag up to the second floor of the hotel. As they approached Campbell Camacho, agents also observed Velez-Lopez near the top of the stairs with a cell phone in his hands. Agents later discovered 30 bricks of cocaine in Campbell Camacho’s black duffle bag. A search of Velez-Lopez’s cell phones revealed that Campbell Camacho and Velez-Lopez were in constant contact while Campbell Camacho traveled to Mandela Circle to collect the cocaine. Velez-Lopez is scheduled for sentencing on July 7.
The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated this case and Assistant United States Attorney Kyle Payne prosecuted the case. This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
