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New Haven County resident Carlos Mercado, age 32, of Meriden, was charged on Tuesday, Oct. 26 with cocaine trafficking offenses stemming from his alleged participation in a drug trafficking organization that used the U.S. Mail to ship kilogram quantities of cocaine from Puerto Rico to Meriden, said Leonard C Boyle, Acting US Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
As alleged in court documents, in October 2020, law enforcement identified suspicious parcels that were being mailed from Puerto Rico to an address in Meriden.
On Monday, Oct. 26, 2020, investigators identified Mercado after he picked up a parcel from that location.
After Mercado picked up another parcel from the location in November, investigators coordinated a traffic stop of his vehicle, which was unregistered, and towed the vehicle, and seized the parcel.
A court-authorized search of the parcel revealed two kilograms of cocaine. In the following months, Mercado conspired with others to pick up postal parcels, and law enforcement seized four more kilograms of cocaine linked to Mercado.
The indictment charges Mercado with 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.
Mercado was arrested on a federal criminal complaint in July and is released on a $100,000 bond.
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