Coffee tables hid 4,000 kilos of cocaine that ‘flooded’ Florida, other states, feds say
A man helped flood Florida and other states along the East Coast with 4,000 kilos of cocaine by hiding the drugs in coffee tables and other furniture, federal prosecutors said.
For three years, dozens of custom tables and furniture arrived in the continental U.S. in 27 separate shipments from Puerto Rico as part of a drug trafficking scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
In addition to Florida, the cocaine shipments also made their way into Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York to be sold, an indictment states.
Now a Massachusetts man could go to prison, the office announced in a Dec. 20 news release. He is accused of regularly traveling to help transport the cocaine, including back and forth from Massachusetts to Florida.
Abel Montilla, 49, of Springfield, was found guilty on Dec. 19 in connection with his role in a drug trafficking organization, prosecutors said. A jury convicted him of conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute narcotics.
“The unanimous jury verdict holds Abel Montilla accountable for his role in a widespread cocaine trafficking organization that flooded the streets with four tons of cocaine,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.
McClatchy News contacted attorneys representing Montilla for comment on Dec. 21 and didn’t immediately receive a response.
Between 2018 and 2021, prosecutors estimate the four tons of cocaine shipped inside more than 70 pieces of furniture had an estimated $120 million street value.
Montilla helped distribute the cocaine by acting as the “coordinator” of the drug trafficking group, according to Williams.
As coordinator, Montilla is accused of often driving from Massachusetts to Florida at night to be there when the cocaine arrived from Puerto Rico.
While it wasn’t specified where in Florida he drove to, a drive from his hometown of Springfield to Tallahassee, Florida’s capital, is about 1,240 miles and can potentially take 20 hours.
After arriving in Florida, Montilla would either drive or fly back to Massachusetts to make cocaine deliveries, the release said.
He is accused of coordinating at least 12 of the 27 shipments of furniture hiding the drugs, prosecutors said. A dozen more shipments were sent to addresses associated with him, according to the release.
Montilla now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a potential maximum sentence of life in prison, according to prosecutors. His sentencing is scheduled for March 22.
Springfield is about 90 miles west of Boston.
This story was originally published December 21, 2022 at 2:16 PM with the headline "Coffee tables hid 4,000 kilos of cocaine that ‘flooded’ Florida, other states, feds say."
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