Five Harrisburg men have been indicted for what federal investigators say was a conspiracy to ship thousands of pounds of marijuana through the mail.
U.S. Attorney David Freed on Thursday identified those charged as Christopher Texidor, 33; William Kuduk, 34; Justin Laboy, 33; Jose Laboy, 36; and Jonathan Cobaugh, 23. Also charged is Jamie Valenzuela, 29, of Santa Ana, Calif.
Investigators said the smuggling operation moved millions of dollars worth of marijuana through the Fastlane Auto Sales on Paxton Street. They claim in charges filed in U.S. Middle District Court that the men mailed hundreds of parcels containing drugs from California to Harrisburg and sent cash payments back through the mail.
Freed said they “used guns, robbery and kidnapping as tools to keep their criminal operation running.”
The group raided the Harrisburg home of someone they believed would harm their scheme, fired gunshots into a Susquehanna Township home, tried to restrain a man and stole a car in Highspire and placed a tracking device on a man they thought was interfering with drug network, Freed said.
The arrests resulted from an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the state police and the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office.
The drug trafficking, firearms and violence charges filed in the case carry penalties of up to life in prison, Freed said.
