Florida racketeering charges filed after $2.1M Sinaloa Cartel cocaine bust

Florida has announced additional charges after law enforcement officers dismantled one of the largest drug trafficking rings in Tampa Bay history after an investigation linked a local cocaine operation directly to the Sinaloa cartel. Sinaloa cartel drug bustOfficials said what began as a routine local drug seizure expanded into a sweep targeting a Sinaloa cartel distribution network shipping thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the region from Texas. Deputies arrested Daniel Pinales on July 11 with 60 kilograms of cocaine in his hands, according to Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri. Pinales, who lived in Brandon but maintained deep ties to Pinellas County, remains in jail on a $10.1 million bail and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison. Investigators with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement used wiretaps during a three-year probe to uncover the full operation. Gualtieri said Pinales obtained kilograms of cocaine from