A New Britain resident has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for his involvement in a cocaine trafficking operation that used the U.S. Postal Service to ship large quantities of cocaine from Puerto Rico to Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Luis Torres Ortiz, 25, received a sentence of 60 months imprisonment and four years of supervised release from U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport. The announcement was made by David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
According to court documents and statements made during proceedings, investigators led by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force identified Joseph Giovanni Soto as the leader of a network that sent parcels containing kilogram amounts of cocaine from Puerto Rico to drop addresses in New Britain and Meriden, Connecticut, as well as locations in Holyoke and West Springfield, Massachusetts. The organization relied on individuals referred to as “runners” who collected these parcels and delivered them to Soto’s residence in Bloomfield or his uncle Ramon Soto’s home in New Britain.
Ramon Soto then distributed the drugs to buyers in the Bronx and other locations at Joseph Soto’s direction.
During their investigation, authorities intercepted ten parcels each containing about two kilograms of cocaine. They also identified around 280 additional suspicious parcels believed to contain similar amounts that had already been delivered.
Joseph Giovanni Soto was arrested on May 1, 2023. After his arrest, investigators observed an increase in suspicious shipments from Puerto Rico into Connecticut that were linked to Jatniel Morales Gonzalez. According to investigators, Morales Gonzalez took over control of the trafficking network’s operations in Connecticut following Soto’s arrest. Investigators tracked new drop addresses associated with these shipments and saw Morales Gonzalez, Torres Ortiz, and others retrieving packages before delivering them ultimately to the Bronx.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service identified more than 90 additional suspicious parcels during this phase; 24 were sent directly to Torres Ortiz’s address in New Britain. Court-authorized searches revealed each parcel contained about two kilograms of cocaine.
Torres Ortiz was arrested on December 19, 2024. He pleaded guilty on September 19, 2025, to conspiracy charges involving possession with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine.
Currently released on a $50,000 bond, Torres Ortiz must report for incarceration on April 21.
Other defendants—including Joseph Giovanni Soto (14 years), Ramon Soto (10 years), and Morales Gonzalez (10 years)—have also pleaded guilty and received prison sentences.
The case was investigated by multiple agencies: the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; its Office of Inspector General; Connecticut State Police; Hartford Police Department; Plainville Police Department; along with members from the Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephanie Levick and Konstantin Lantsman are prosecuting this matter.
“This matter has been investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force, which includes members from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Postal Service – Office of the Inspector General, the Connecticut State Police, the Hartford Police Department, and the Plainville Police Department,” according to prosecutors’ statement.