Three men have been found guilty of running a drug trafficking and money laundering organization in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood.
According to the Justice Department report, Ulysses Cabrera, 32, Bernardo Quinonez, 34, and Victor Smith, 26, were convicted by a federal jury after a nine-week trial in which all three defendants faced life imprisonment.
The three people were found guilty of various crimes involving firearms, narcotics and money laundering.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida found that between 2013 and 2018, Ulysses Cabrera, aka “Uley”, aka “Big Cuz”, 32 years old, and Bernardo Quinonez, aka “Macho”, 34 years old, both based in Miami, they ran a criminal enterprise that distributed cocaine, crack and marijuana on the streets of Little Havana.
Evidence uncovered revealed that Cabrera supplied the cocaine and ran the operation, while B. Quiñónez was a co-manager overseeing the people converting cocaine to crack in local homes.
The third person charged in the trial, Victor Smith, aka “OGP”, 26, also from Miami, supervised the sale of drugs on the street.
“When rival drug traffickers threatened territory they controlled or questioned their authority, Cabrera and B. Quiñonez ordered Smith and other armed members of the network to intimidate, maim and, in some cases, kill people. In some cases, innocent passers-by were shot and injured,” says the report on the case that has become public.
The defendants also seized approximately 3 pounds of cocaine, several grams of crack cocaine, more than 26 pounds of marijuana, four assault rifles, 10 pistols, 10 extended magazines, 10 semi-automatic firearms, a short-barreled rifle, a revolver and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
The statement by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said a jury convicted Cabrera of one count of involvement in an ongoing criminal enterprise and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, crack and marijuana conspiracy to possess firearms in support of a drug crime, four counts of money laundering and four counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
In addition, B. Quiñonez was convicted of involvement in an ongoing criminal enterprise, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, crack and marijuana, conspiracy to possess firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. one count of shooting from a vehicle, one count of supplying a firearm in support of a drug crime, three counts of money laundering, seven counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and one count of operating a distribution facility.
In Smith’s case, he was faced with one charge of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, crack and marijuana, one charge of conspiracy to possess firearms in support of a drug trafficking offense and one charge of possession with intent to do so convicts distributing cocaine, crack and marijuana Intent to distribute cocaine, as well as one charge of armed robbery and one charge of firearms in aid of a violent crime.
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