Two men charged with drug trafficking involving shipments hidden inside auto body parts
Two men have pleaded guilty in federal court in connection with drug trafficking crimes that involved drug shipments hidden inside auto body parts, a Maryland District Attorney’s Office press release says.
Norville Clark, 56, of Clarksburg, Maryland, and Daniel Cruz, 39, of Los Angeles, California, are both charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, the release says.
Starting in 2023, multiple federal agencies partnered to investigate a drug-trafficking organization (DTO) transporting and distributing large quantities of cocaine from California to Maryland, according to the release. It started after Maryland State Police (MSP) seized a parcel that contained about 2 kilograms of cocaine.
The parcel was mailed from the Los Angeles area to Clarke’s auto-repair shop in District Heights, Maryland. Postal inspectors and other law enforcement investigators linked Cruz to the narcotics, the release alleges.
The following year, in 2024, postal inspectors and other investigators identified a freight-shipment container shipped from Los Angeles, destined for Clarke’s auto repair shop. Law enforcement again identified Cruz on surveillance footage dropping off the freight shipment. Cruz then traveled to Maryland to follow the shipment delivery, the release says.
Investigators observed Cruz and Clarke meeting at Clarke’s auto repair shop several days after the freight shipment was sent from California, the release says. Investigators then located the freight shipment in Dulles, Virginia, where a K-9 officer scanned it.
“After the K-9 officer indicated the presence of narcotics in the shipment, law enforcement obtained a search warrant for the freight container,” the release says. “Then, postal inspectors and law enforcement investigators located two automobile transmissions inside. Law enforcement found 20, 1-kilogram bricks secreted in the oil pans of both transmissions that laboratory forensic tests later confirmed were more than 16 kilograms of cocaine.”
Search warrants were then executed at Clarke’s District Heights auto repair shop and his Clarksburg residence, as well as Cruz’s hotel room in Capital Heights.
Law enforcement located an additional 502.4 grams of cocaine and 2-kilogram bricks of cocaine at the repair shop, and $45,730 at Clarke’s residence, the release says.
An additional nine historical freight shipments that mirrored the original shipment that contained cocaine were identified by investigators.
Clarke and Cruz pleaded that they were involved in possessing about 22 kilograms of cocaine in furtherance of this drug trafficking conspiracy, the release says. Cruz is scheduled for sentencing on June 18, and Clarke on July 24.
The investigation also included assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Montgomery County Police Department, and Prince George’s County Police Department.
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