News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: August 15, 2011
Contact: Sarah Pullen, PIO
Number: 213-621-6827

Two Charged in 154 Pound Cocaine Seizure Destined for East Coast

AUG 15 - Two Southern California men were charged today in a federal narcotics case stemming from their involvement in a conspiracy to transport 70 kilograms of cocaine from California to North Carolina.

Bobby Ray Palacios, 40, of Buena Park, and Jose Carlos Rios, 43, of Pomona, were arrested Friday night after delivering 154 pounds of cocaine to an undercover operative working under the direction of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Palacios and Rios are scheduled to make their initial court appearance in United States District Court this afternoon after being named in a criminal complaint filed this morning. The complaint charges both men with two counts – conspiracy to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute and possession of more than five kilograms of cocaine with the intent to distribute.

According to the affidavit in support of the complaint, Palacios approached a DEA confidential source who is a truck driver and asked him to transport 80 kilograms of cocaine from Bloomington, California, to North Carolina. The DEA source met with Palacios last Thursday and received instructions on picking up the “loadâ€