HARTFORD, CT — Three people federal prosecutors said were living in Hartford Tolland are among five charged federally with trafficking cocaine through the mail from Puerto Rico.
David X. Sullivan, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut; P.J. O'Brien, special agent in charge of the New Haven Division of the FBI; and Nicholas Bucciarelli, the acting inspector in charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division' said Monday that five have been charged by indictment with offenses related to the trafficking of cocaine through the U.S. Mail from Puerto Rico to Connecticut:
According to case records, in June 2025, the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force and U.S. Postal Inspection Service began investigating a drug trafficking organization that was coordinating the shipment of cocaine from Puerto Rico to Connecticut through the U.S. Mail.
Typically, Osorio-Soto and Castro Perez mailed the cocaine parcels from post offices in Puerto Rico to various addresses in central Connecticut, according to case records. Torres-Ortiz collected the packages and transported them to secondary locations where Edgar Castro Perez and Arroyo-Robles stored them until the cocaine was distributed further, according to case records.
Members of the organization used residences on Merlot Way in Tolland and Woodland Drive in Hartford to store narcotics, drug paraphernalia, cash, and firearms, according to case records. During the investigation, investigators identified at least 12 suspicious parcels shipped to Connecticut and seized and searched four parcels, each of which contained multiple kilograms of cocaine, case records show.
Prosecutors said that, on Sept. 17, Torres-Ortiz picked up a parcel after it had been delivered to an address in Middletown and drove to Hartford where he transferred the parcel to Edgar Castro Perez, who then drove to the residence in Tolland.
Investigators stopped Castro Perez in the driveway of the residence and seized the parcel, and found that it contained approximately 3 kilograms of cocaine, according to case records. On that date, a court-authorized search of the Tolland residence revealed four automatic firearms, three semi-automatic handguns, gun magazines, ammunition, and $133,292 in cash, according to case records.
A search of the Hartford residence revealed a loaded .45 caliber handgun, according to case records.
The five defendants were originally charged by federal criminal complaint. Arroyo-Robles was arrested on March 31, 2026; Edgardo Castro Perez, Osorio-Soto, and Edgar Castro Perez were arrested on April 1, 2026; and Torres-Ortiz was arrested on April 2, 2026. Arroyo-Robles possessed a distribution quantity of cocaine and $2,321 in cash at the time of his arrest.
On April 8, 2026, a grand jury in Bridgeport returned an indictment charging each of the defendants with conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine.
If convicted of the charge, based on the quantity of drug attributed to each defendant, Edgardo Castro Perez, Osorio-Soto, and Torres-Ortiz face a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of life; Edgar Castro Perez faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 40 years; and Arroyo-Robles faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.
The indictment also charges Edgar Castro Perez and Torres-Ortiz with possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, 500 grams or more of cocaine, an offense that carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 40 years, and Arroyo-Robles with possession with intent to distribute cocaine, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.
The indictment also seeks the forfeiture of cash and firearms seized during the investigation.
Osorio-Soto, Edgar Castro Perez, Torres-Ortiz and Arroyo-Robles were arraigned on April 22, 2026, entered pleas of not guilty, and are released on $50,000 bonds. Edgardo Castro Perez, who has been detained since his arrest, is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon in Hartford federal court.
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