A former Woonsocket felon was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after his drug smuggling operation shipped more than 100 kilos of cocaine from Puerto Rico to Rhode Island, federal officials announced Tuesday.
Efrain Colon-Garcia, 43, was accused of leading the drug ring with his wife, Yaniris Colon-Senquiz, 47, federal prosecutors said.
The two are accused of receiving dozens of packages containing at least one kilogram of cocaine each, prosecutors said. The cocaine was hidden inside items such as clothing, toys, and Bluetooth speakers and wooden wine holders, according to U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha.
Colon-Garcia and Colon-Senquiz paid family members to receive the packages at their homes, federal prosecutors said. They also paid family members to travel to New York and deliver the packages and collect the cash.
Federal prosecutors say the Colon-Garcia’s received less than a kilogram of cocaine per package at first. As the operation grew, prosecutors say the packages included multiple kilograms of cocaine hidden inside larger items.
The two were arrested in 2020, prosecutors said. They pleaded guilty in September.
Colon-Garcia was sentenced today to 10 years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. A sentencing date for Colon-Senquiz has not yet been set, prosecutors said.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) assisted a What’sUpNewp journalist with the reporting included in this story.
