FBI: Man brokered cocaine deal
By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 04/01/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT


A Gadsden Independent School District employee arrested on a drug conspiracy charge is accused of being the "broker" of a $1.8 million cocaine deal, an FBI spokeswoman said Monday.
David Rolando Muñoz, 52, was granted a $20,000 bond during a court appearance Monday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Norbert Garney. Muñoz's lawyer, José R. Coronado of Las Cruces, declined to comment after the hearing.

Muñoz, who works as a special education diagnostician with the Gadsden school district, was arrested Friday in Anthony, Texas, as part of three-year investigation by an FBI-DEA Strike Force, FBI spokeswoman Special Agent Andrea Simmons said.

Muñoz, of the 1200 block of Oñate in Anthony, N.M., was charged with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute more than five kilos of cocaine, officials said. The investigation involves other people, and more arrests are possible.

On Monday, Gadsden school district officials issued a statement saying that the district would not comment on the allegations.

In recent months, Muñoz "was negotiating for two deliveries of 50 kilos (of cocaine) each ... He was the broker negotiating on both sides, getting it to deliver on what price," Simmons said. Muñoz was negotiating with undercover agents.

Simmons said the deal was worth an estimated $1.8 million because of an increase in the price of cocaine, which is selling at about $18,000 a kilo in El Paso.

The price of cocaine has increased nationally, selling for more than $30,000 a kilo in New York, because of a shortage in supply, Simmons said.
The Drug Enforcement Administration also reported on its Web site that the disruption of cocaine-smuggling routes last year lead to a drop in supply and an increase in prices, primarily in cities on the East Coast.

Robert Almonte, executive director of the Texas Narcotics Officers Association, also said the price of cocaine had increased and that it could be related to the added pressure the Mexican government was placing on drug cartels and a rise in "turf wars" among drug traffickers.

Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com; 546-6102.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_8764519?s ... ost_viewed