Florida and Texas Men Charged With Possession With Intent to Deliver 10 Kilos of Cocaine

A Florida man and a Texas man were charged Oct. 2 with possession with intent to deliver 10 kilos of cocaine after a search of two vehicles in Allentown, according to the Lehigh County District Attorney's office.

Alberto Mercedes, 47, of Homestead, Fla., and Jose Manuel Martinez, 58, of Houston, Texas, also were charged with a first-degree felony of conspiracy, according to a press release issued by the DA's office.

Mercedes and Martinez were arraigned and denied bail.

The two men were charged after an investigation was initiated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration New York Field Division and the DEA Allentown Resident Office.

An affidavit of probable cause alleges the following:

"At about 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 2, police and agents were conducting surveillance in the 300 block of N. 15th Street in Allentown when they saw Martinez park a vehicle with a Florida license plate in the 300 block of N. Fulton Street. Martinez walked to the front of 324 N. 15th St.

"At about the same time, police and agents saw Mercedes park a vehicle with a Florida license plate at the back of 324 N. 15th St.

"Search warrants were executed, and police found five brick-shaped packages that were believed to be cocaine in the vehicle Martinez had been driving. Inside the vehicle Mercedes had been driving, police found another five brick-shaped packages wrapped in electrical tape.

"The packages contained a total of 10 kilos of cocaine," according to Joseph Stauffer, chief detective of the Lehigh County Drug Task Force. Authorities seized $10,000 in cash from one of the vehicles.