SWFL couple linked to Mexican drug cartel sentenced for conspiracy to distribute cocaine

MGN

Two people “with direct ties to a Mexican drug cartel” were sentenced to federal prison for conspiracy to distribute more than 17 kilograms of cocaine, the Department of Justice said Wednesday.

Jose Nunez, 66, of Fort Myers, was sentenced to 11 years in prison, and Sila Nunez, of Fort Myers, was sentenced to six years in prison, according to the Department of Justice. They pleaded guilty in November 2017.

An undercover U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent purchased an ounce of cocaine from Jose twice between October 2016 and July 2017, according to court documents.

“After the second transaction, his wife, Sila Nunez, told the agent that they could do bigger deals in the future, up to a ‘kilo’ in weight,” the Department of Justice said in a statement.

An investigation found the couple were “large-scale drug traffickers,” according to court documents. The couple received four multi-kilogram shipments of cocaine through drug couriers, and returned hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cartel between October 2016 and July 2017.

DEA agents also searched the couple’s home on July 26, 2017, and seized a stash of cocaine and more than $10,000 in drug proceeds, the Department of Justice said.

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