United States Drug Enforcement Administration

ORLANDO, Fla. – U.S. District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza sentenced Luis Raul Perez Rodriguez, 50, of Orlando, to 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Perez Rodriguez had pleaded guilty on March 28, 2022. 

According to court documents, on January 21, 2022, Perez Rodriguez had arranged to receive a shipment of three parcels containing 19 kilograms of cocaine, valued at an estimated $570,000, through a delivery service from an address in Puerto Rico to an apartment in Orlando. On January 19, 2022, security specialists at the delivery service company detected the cocaine shipment and reported the parcels to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

On January 21, 2022, an undercover officer posed as a delivery driver and delivered a fake package to the address listed on the shipment. Perez Rodriguez was in the parking lot of his apartment and identified himself with the fake name associated with the parcels and showed the delivery driver that he was tracking the progress of the shipment on his phone. Perez Rodriguez was apprehended as the driver loaded two of the three packages into Perez Rodriguez’s vehicle. Additional evidence linked Perez Rodriguez to seven suspected kilogram-quantity shipments of cocaine from Puerto Rico to Orlando that were delivered as early as 2018.    

This case was investigated by the DEA Orlando District Office with assistance from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The United States Middle District of Florida prosecuted the case. More information about this case can be found at https://www.flmd.uscourts.gov or https://ecf.flmd.uscourts.gov.

If you are aware of controlled substance violations in your community, please submit your anonymous tip through the DEA online Tip Line at Submit a Tip | DEA.gov.  Concerns about prescription drug abuse or diversion can be reported to the DEA through this link: RX Abuse Online Reporting (usdoj.gov).

The DEA encourages parents, teachers, care givers, guardians, and children to educate themselves about the dangers of legal and illegal drugs by visiting DEA’s interactive websites at www.JustThinkTwice.com , www.GetSmartAboutDrugs.com , www.CampusDrugPrevention.gov , and www.dea.gov.

Please follow DEA Miami via Twitter at @DEAMIAMIDIV.