Juan Marrero, alias “Juan Marrero-Sanchez,” age 24, appeared Monday before Magistrate Judge Ruth Miller for advise of rights on cocaine conspiracy charges filed in Tampa, Florida, U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced Tuesday.
Marrero was arrested on Saturday, December 14, 2019, at the Cyril E. King Airport as he attempted to board his JetBlue flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico. At the conclusion of the hearing, Miller detained Marrero pending further proceedings.
According to court documents, Marrero, along with eight co-conspirators, were indicted on Sept. 6 in the Middle District of Florida with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. The charge stems from the seizure of a U.S. Postal package in April 2018 that was addressed to Marrero, and destined for the address located at an address in Tampa, Florida. A search of the postal package revealed that it contained two kilograms of cocaine.
Following the seizure of the package, agents conducted a search in the Florida DMV and discovered that Marrerro had a Florida driver’s license with the same listed address as the package. Agents subsequently seized four additional U.S. Postal packages containing a total of 12 kilograms of cocaine that were tied to Marrerro.
This case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Delia L. Smith.
