Man smuggled cocaine from Mexico to Georgia in fruit, electronic shipments, officials say

An Atlanta man's elaborate scheme to import hundreds of pounds of cocaine using fake companies has ended with him facing a decade in federal prison, officials say.

Prosecutors say 37-year-old Carlos Salazar-Garcia used shipments of fruit and electronics to bring the drugs from Mexico to the metro area.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia, federal agents in Laredo, Texas, found 119 pounds of cocaine hidden among a shipment of electronic transformers on its way to a Clayton County farmers market. Nearly a year later, agents at the border in McAllen, Texas, intercepted 66 pounds of cocaine found in a shipment of limes. In both cases, officials say the shipments were connected with companies operated by Salazar-Garcia.

"Salazar-Garcia laundered money for Mexican drug traffickers and attempted to smuggle nearly 200 pounds of cocaine into our country," said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. "But federal law enforcement officers working collaboratively across agencies and jurisdictions spoiled his scheme, seized his drugs, and haled him into court to face the significant consequences."

In all, prosecutors say that Salazar-Garcia and co-defendant Andrea Principe laundered more than a million dollars in drug proceeds.

Salazar-Garcia pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, cocaine importation, and money laundering charges in April. On Wednesday, he was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release.

 Principe has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and will be sentenced in October.