Feds: Busted Florida drug ring tied to Gulf Cartel, RGV

PANAMA CITY, Fla. — Eleven men accused of operating a multistate drug organization based in the Rio Grande Valley were charged in U.S. District Court after federal agents seized hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, dozens of guns and more than 1 ton of marijuana.

Rufus Daniel Curington Jr., 70, Charles A. Armstrong, 56, and Joseph Kevin Jeter, 43, all of Vernon, Fla.; and 71-year-old James Hardesty Moore of Panama City, Fla., appeared in court Wednesday afternoon. It was their first appearance on a charge of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute marijuana. Six men from McAllen also face the same charge, and one Central Florida man also appeared on the same charge.

Named in a criminal complaint that went public Thursday in federal court in McAllen were Jesus Antonio Gonzalez, 47, Jorge Lugo Martinez, 35, Alberto Gomez, 34, Alejandro Amaya, 26, and James Paul Walker, 45. Four other defendants whose names are under seal are included in the McAllen case file.

At a court hearing Wednesday in Panama City, federal prosecutor Gayle Littleton told Magistrate Judge Larry Bodiford she anticipates firearms charges against the defendants, as well.

The defendants face a possible life sentence if convicted as charged and a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years if they have no prior convictions. Littleton said three of the four Florida defendants have prior convictions that would result in enhanced sentences and the minimum mandatory sentence would be 20 years.

According to the criminal complaint against the four Florida Panhandle men, Curington and Moore spent time in federal prison after being convicted of the same offense in the late 1990s. When an attorney for Moore requested he be released for health reasons until a detention hearing scheduled for Monday, Littleton said he had complained of the same health issues the last time he was arrested.

“This is not Mr. Moore’s first rodeo,” Littleton told Bodiford.

The defendants are suspected of being involved with a drug distribution operation based in Edcouch with ties to the Gulf Cartel in Reynosa. Large amounts of pot were allegedly stashed in Vernon, Fla., and distributed to other defendants in central Florida, and cash from those defendants was held en route back to McAllen.

Court records say the investigation into the alleged drug running operation began in 2006. The investigation led to arrests only this month, when Homeland Security Investigations agents learned a tractor-trailer loaded with marijuana would travel from Edcouch to Florida on Saturday. 

Court records state truckloads of pot were sent from McAllen to Curington’s stash house in Vernon on a regular basis. Dollar amounts in the millions made the trip in reverse. In some cases, large amounts of cash were buried underground.

At some point, the records state, the defendants apparently became concerned the stash house had been identified by law enforcement and moved the warehouse to Jeter’s property, which is where a search warrant was executed Tuesday night.

Federal agents tracked a shipment using GPS and aerial surveillance to a gated property in Panama City where Jeter and Armstrong were at the gate and were arrested immediately. Both men were armed.

When agents moved in, several men who were unloading a shipment from a truck scattered into the woods. In a shed on the property, officers found more than 2,700 pounds of pot wrapped in plastic, covered in fabric softener and axle grease, and then rewrapped in plastic.

One man, Adolfo Tamez, of McAllen, escaped into the woods.

Warrants were executed the same day at the residences of Curington, Armstrong and Moore; more than $600,000 in cash and 30 guns were seized as a result of those raids, authorities reported.

Curington allegedly kept several hundred pounds of the deliveries and sold it for $800 a pound. He allegedly sold about 1,600 pounds a year, and he had $156,490 cash when his property was searched. Moore was a customer of Curington’s, buying about 50 pounds every month or two. Armstrong, who had $431,000 at his property, said he was paid to act as a lookout for the operation and had helped to store and load cash for shipment, according to federal authorities.

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Chris Olwell is a reporter for The News Herald in Panama City, Fla.  

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Jared Taylor covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at jtaylor@themonitor.com and (956) 683-4439.  

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