MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD – Three members of a Puerto Rican drug trafficking cartel were arrested and charged by the federal government, alleged to have been trafficking narcotics through Montgomery County.
“Three alleged members of a drug trafficking organization based in Puerto Rico have been indicted in the District of Columbia, following an investigation into shipments of cocaine from San Juan for distribution in the Washington, D.C. area, including Montgomery County,” officials said. “On Thursday, May 26, 2022, the alleged leader of the organization was indicted in the U.S District Court for the District of Columbia. Two of the defendants face an additional charge stemming from a murder related to the drug trafficking that occurred in Puerto Rico.”
The Department of Justice issue the following information:
As detailed in a news release by the U.S. Attorney’s office, “39-year-old Rey Rivera Ruiz, of San Juan, Puerto Rico, the alleged leader was indicted on May 26, with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, one count of continuing criminal enterprise — causing the intentional death of Shantay Butler, 44 — and one count of causing the death through the use of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking offense.”
In addition, 26-year-old Jann Jousten Aponte Rivera, and 20-year-old Michael Gabriel Hernandez Rivera, both of San Juan, Puerto Rico, were indicted on one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, one count of continuing criminal enterprise — causing the intentional death of Shantay Butler– and one count of causing the death through the use of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking offense.
According to the government’s evidence, Ruiz, assisted by Aponte River and Hernandez Rivera, and several other individuals, shipped between 50 and 150 kilograms of cocaine to a local drug trafficking organization operating in Montgomery and Frederick Counties between October 2019 and April of 2021. Once the cocaine arrived in the Washington D.C. area, local drug traffickers distributed it into the community.
Ruiz Rivera, Aponte Rivera, and Hernandez Rivera have remained in custody since their April 2021 arrests.