Massive Drug-Pipeline From Mexico To Upstate New York Uncovered

Seven people are facing charges in connection to a drug pipeline that ran from Mexico to the Hudson Valley.

Federal prosecutors allege a violent drug trafficking operation with ties to Orange County has been dismantled.

Feds Uncover Drug Pipeline From Mexico To The Hudson Valley

An indictment unsealed this week charged Carlos Molina Rodriguez, Samuel “Lobo” Blain, Carlos “Bway” Martinez, Kalif “Leef” Cox, Justice “Just” Beard, Calvin “Ski” Lewis, and Emmanuel Idyis. All of the men face charges ranging from drug trafficking and racketeering to firearms trafficking, child exploitation, and even murder.

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Officials say between at least about 2022 and April 2025, the defendants ran and participated in a Mexico-based drug trafficking organization called the Molina DOT, led by Molina Rodriguez, Blain and others.

They allegedly sued special modified minivans to smuggle drugs from Mexico into California. The drugs where then driven across the country into Middletown.

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The U.S. Attorney's Office alleges the suspects smuggled crystal meth, fentanyl, and cocaine across the country, including in Middletown.

The drugs were then allegedly sold in Orange County by the Forbes List gang led by Martinez. The gang's members included Cox, Beard, Lewis, Idyis, and others, officials say.

Prosecutors allege the gang was involved in shootings, robberies, and gun trafficking across New York.

Innocent Bystander Killed In Newburgh

Officials say Cox fatally shot an innocent bystander, Amed Alberto Alvarado Baquedano, during a gang-related gunfight in Newburgh in 2019.

"The wide-ranging criminal conduct described in this Indictment shows a troubling indifference to the safety of New Yorkers that cannot be tolerated," U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said.