GARDINER, Maine – Troopers with the Maine State Police thwarted a cocaine smuggling attempt Tuesday when they intercepted more than 4 pounds of cocaine packaged as cake in the trunk of an Audi.
The seizure, executed in tandem with a Maine Drug Enforcement Agency investigation, also netted two arrests and $1,900 believed to be proceeds from the sale of illegal narcotics, WCSH reported.
John “Papers” Cedeno, 25, of New York, and 33-year-old Chelsy Cochran of Winslow, Maine, were pulled over in Gardiner, Maine, and a State Police K-9 indicated there were drugs in the trunk, WAGM-TV reported.
Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss told WCSH that the cocaine was wrapped in cellophane and sprinkled with coffee grounds to mask the scent of the narcotics.
Agents believe the confiscated drugs, with an estimated street value of $200,000, were being transported into the state for redistribution throughout Kennebec and Somerset counties, WAGM-TV reported.
Cedeno, whom authorities believe is the man behind the distribution of “considerable amounts” of cocaine in central Maine, and Cochran were each charged with aggravated trafficking, according to a news release issued by the MDEA and the Maine Department of Public Safety.
Cochran’s bail was set at $50,000, while bail for Cedeno, who was charged by the MDEA in 2015 with trafficking heroin, was set at $750,000, WCSH reported.
Cedeno was convicted in 2016 on the heroin charge and received a four-year prison sentence, WAGM-TV reported.
