Hilltown Township Police. Photo by James Short.
A Telford man is facing felony drug charges after federal and local authorities said he accepted a shipment of cocaine mailed from Puerto Rico, then admitted to previously selling multiple kilogram quantities in the region.
Tomas Edgardo Figueroa Rivera, 42, of the 200 block of North Washington Court in Telford and the 200 block of 4th Street in Allentown, was charged Aug. 19 with felony manufacture, delivery or possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and felony criminal use of a communications device, according to Hilltown Township Police.
Controlled delivery and arrest
Investigators said the case began Aug. 13 when a U.S. Postal Service parcel mailed from Arroyo, Puerto Rico, tested positive for narcotics during a canine inspection. Postal inspectors obtained a federal search warrant, opened the package, and discovered more than a kilogram of compressed cocaine hidden inside a speaker box, court documents stated.
Inspectors removed most of the cocaine, replaced it with a substitute substance and a GPS tracker, and resealed the parcel for a controlled delivery. On Aug. 19, postal agents and Hilltown detectives delivered the package to Meadow Glen Apartments at 401 East Summit Avenue, where it was accepted by a woman identified as Shana Perez, police said.
Hours later, investigators said Figueroa Rivera arrived in a gray Toyota Corolla, met Perez, and took possession of the package. As he drove away, the GPS tracker showed the box being opened. Federal agents stopped the vehicle near Route 113 in Souderton and recovered the speaker box containing about 109 grams of cocaine hidden under the passenger seat, according to police.
After being read his Miranda rights in Spanish, Figueroa Rivera allegedly admitted he knew the package contained about 1,000 grams of cocaine and that he had arranged with Perez to pick it up. He also told investigators he does not use cocaine but sells it in one-gram quantities for $20 to $30, and that he had received three to five prior shipments of kilogram amounts from Puerto Rico, authorities said.
Figueroa Rivera was initially jailed on 10 percent of $1.5 million cash bail, later reduced to 10 percent of $500,000. He is represented by attorney Louis T. Savino Jr. of Philadelphia. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 22 at 10 a.m. before Magisterial District Judge Regina Armitage.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
