SECAUCUS AND BEYOND – A U.S. Postal Service employee and her boyfriend were charged yesterday in connection with a scheme to allegedly intercept cocaine-laden packages mailed from Puerto Rico to New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced in a statement.
Christina Nunez, 30, of Lyndhurst, N.J., a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier in Secaucus, was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of 500 grams or more of cocaine, and mail theft. She was arrested Aug. 24. Her boyfriend, Luis A. Vega, 36, of Lyndhurst, was also arrested and charged with conspiring with Nunez to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of 500 grams or more of cocaine.
Vega made his initial appearance Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Dickson in Newark federal court. Nunez was expected to make her initial appearance before Judge Dickson Tuesday.
According to the USAO, it is estimated that Nunez, Vega, and their co-conspirators allegedly distributed more than 18 kilograms of cocaine between October 2010 and August 24, 2012.
Since December 2010, Nunez has allegedly been receiving packages of cocaine that were mailed from Puerto Rico to delivery addresses along her mail route. Nunez allegedly intercepted the packages, scanned them as delivered despite never delivering the packages to their actual delivery addresses, and allegedly transported the cocaine to co-conspirators in Camden, N.J.