Five Texas Men, Including Two UPS Employees, Arrested on Drug Trafficking Charges

Five Texas men, including two UPS employees, were arrested on drug trafficking charges for allegedly transporting cocaine through the company’s packages. According to U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani, Javier Enrique Mendoza, 48, allegedly supplied the group with packages of cocaine, and Jose Felipe Lozano, 58, allegedly manufactured fraudulent labels for the packages.

The two UPS employees, identified as 33-year-old Jose Salinas and 28-year-old Sergio Almanza, were arrested on October 15th. The three other men charged were Mendoza, Lozano, and 45-year-old Enrique Bernardo Gamez, authorities said.

The three men allegedly collaborated with Salinas and Almanza to traffic packages of cocaine on multiple occasions between March and October of last year, according to the news release. The packages were shipped from various locations in Texas to various locations in the United States.

The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Postal Inspection Service. All five men are facing charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in federal prison.

The arrests are part of an ongoing effort to combat drug trafficking in the United States. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to prosecuting those who are involved in the illegal distribution of narcotics.