Men sent cocaine-filled teddy bears from Puerto Rico to Florida, investigators say

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Three Florida men sent teddy bears stuffed with cocaine and cash in the mail in an attempt to distribute drugs between the U.S. and Puerto Rico, investigators said.

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The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said drug authorities in Puerto Rico first contacted them in January about a suspicious package, a teddy bear stuffed with two kilos of cocaine and a tracking device, that was sent to Edgar Lopez in Jacksonville, WJAX reported.

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Around the same time, the Postal Service discovered another package, a teddy bear stuffed with cash, sent to Puerto Rico with Yaddiel Lopez’s return address in Jacksonville on it, officials said.

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Investigators found multiple locations, including private residences and a business around Jacksonville, where shipments were delivered. Narcotics detectives, postal inspectors and a drug detection canine from the Florida Highway Patrol found a third package delivered Feb. 23 containing a cocaine-filled teddy bear.

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On Feb. 26, Edgar Lopez, 28; Yaddiel Lopez, 24; and Cassidy Martinez-Iglesias were arrested and charged with cocaine trafficking and conspiring with another to traffic in cocaine, investigators said. Martinez-Iglesias was also charged with four counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Investigators also seized more than five kilos of cocaine, $130,000, multiple firearms and a BMW.

Cox Media Group