Conviction in drug cartel case
Two men accused of being co-conspirators in a cocaine distribution pipeline that funneled drugs from a violent Mexican cartel to the Baltimore area were convicted by a federal jury Monday.
Wade Coats, 45, of Baltimore and Jose Cavazos, 44, of Dallas were convicted of drug conspiracy charges; Coats was also found guilty of a firearms charge. The men, who rejected plea deals, face a maximum sentence of life in prison, and federal authorities expect a sentence of at least 30 years.
Coats and Cavazos were arrested in April 2009 after Drug Enforcement Administration officers found Cavazos at a downtown hotel with more than $600,000 in cash.Detectives had stumbled onto the pair while investigating a lower-level dealer, prosecutors said. Months later, a man who said he has ties to the Gulf Cartel was arrested by FBI agents in Dallas and began providing information to authorities on his contacts throughout the country, including Baltimore.
The witness, Alex Mendoza-Cano, gave a dramatic account of how he said he helped the Gulf Cartel make millions here: He described driving a motor home stuffed with millions of dollars in cocaine along a distribution route running through Arkansas, Chicago, New Jersey and Atlanta, with the drugs supplied by cartel members and smuggled across the border in personal watercraft and boats. He received coded instructions from Mexico via a radio, he said.
