Abingdon Man Charged in Cocaine Ring

An Abingdon man was one of four men charged Monday in an alleged drug ring after authorities say they seized $2.4 million in cash and 31 kilograms of cocaine following a months-long investigation into the group.

William Frederick Cornish, 52, of the 3000 block of Cascade Drive in Abingdon, and three others are charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland reported.

The DEA began its investigation in August 2015 after a tip from the agency's Los Angeles office that a group was "trafficking large amounts of cocaine into Maryland" to a warehouse in the 7100 block of Golden Ring Road, according to the affidavit from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The suspected drug traffickers were evicted from the Golden Ring location and moved to a new warehouse in the 700 block of Hammonds Ferry Road in Linthicum Heights, where investigators witnessed an alleged drop-off on April 6 and pickup on April 8, the affidavit states.

Officials said that on April 8, they saw Cornish pull his silver Ford F-150 into one of the loading bays at the warehouse, where the doors closed, and when he left, police stopped him and a Maryland State Police drug detection dog alerted for suspected narcotics inside.

Police found a cardboard box in the back seat of the truck that contained 31 bricks, or 31 kilograms of cocaine, which has a value in Baltimore of $1 million, according to the affidavit.

A search of Cornish's home uncovered a digital scale, money counter, latex gloves, colored rubber bands and a radio frequency detector used to sweep people for the presence of wiretaps, the affidavit stated.

In the basement of one of Cornish's co-conspirators, officials said they found a drug ledger and duffel bags containing vacuum-sealed bags of cash totaling $2.4 million.

In addition to Cornish, the other three individuals charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine are Hector M. Hernandez-Villapando, 63, of Hanover; Enixae Hernandez-Barba, 33, of Linthicum Heights; and Hector L. Hernandez-Barba, 39, of Las Vegas.

Photos courtesy of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland.