Pair Jailed For $5M Drug Trafficking Scheme: Bucks Co. DA

Doylestown PA

30 March, 2022

10:30 AM

Description

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — Two out-of-state residents will serve time in Pennsylvania state prison after being found guilty of drug trafficking, the Bucks County District Attorney said. Christian Ochoa, 29, of Laredo, Texas and Edith Tomasa Rodriguez Cardenas, 28, of Huntington Park, California were sentenced Tuesday, District Attorney Matt Weintraub said. Ochoa's sentence is 7 1/2 to 15 years, and Rodriguez Cardenas's sentence is 8-16 years, Weintraub said. Related: Nearly $4 Million In Drugs Seized In Bucks Co. Last January, officers arrested Ochoa and Rodriguez Cardena in Bedminster Township after a routine traffic stop led to a drug investigation. Investigators found almost $4 million worth of drugs in a tractor trailer in Lehigh County. At the time of their arrests, Weintraub said the arrests were likely part of a much larger narco-trafficking organization. During the searches, detectives also found more than $43,000 in cash, a handgun, six cell phones, and four candles containing the image of Jesús Malverde. Weintraub said Malverde is known as the "patron saint" of narcotics traffickers. "He's from Texas. She's from California. Jesús Malverde, the patron saint of narco-traffickers was not looking out for them in Pennsylvania, but, thankfully, the police were," Weintraub said. "Thanks to great police instincts and hard work, these two will now be residents of the Pennsylvania state prison system for the next decade or so."