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Feds charge 2 after 200-pound cocaine seizure in Cleveland

Shipment came from Baltimore area
Posted at 3:40 PM, Sep 07, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-07 15:40:39-04

Authorities say two Mexican nationals have been charged in federal court with drug trafficking after a law enforcement task force seized more than 200 pounds of cocaine in Cleveland last week.

According to a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration affidavit, agents seized the drugs Friday after learning of a shipment in a tractor-trailer from the Baltimore area to Cleveland.

Task force members found 92 kilogram-size bricks of cocaine inside a hidden compartment beneath the tractor-trailer, which was parked near a commercial building on Cleveland's east side.

Agents arrested 54-year-old Antonio Navarro-Gaytan and 28-year-old Alejandro Cota-Luna later Friday at a Cleveland hotel.

A magistrate ordered the two men held without bond during a court hearing Wednesday.

Navarro-Gaytan's newly assigned attorney couldn't be reached. Cota-Luna's public defender declined to comment.

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