NEWARK, N.J. - A New Jersey mail carrier regularly received and distributed cocaine shipments in falsely addressed packages along her route on behalf of a drug trafficking organization based in Puerto Rico, federal authorities said Tuesday.The U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey said Christina Nuñez has admitted intercepting packages of cocaine from Puerto Rico and passing them to a co-conspirator in Camden.
Prosecutors say Nuñez, who was assigned to a post office in Secaucus, was responsible for moving more than 18 kilograms of cocaine from October 2010 until her arrest Aug. 24, 2012.
The 30-year-old from Lyndhurst is charged with conspiracy with intent to distribute cocaine and mail theft.
Her boyfriend has also been arrested and charged.
The approximate street value of the drugs wasn't immediately available.
Federal authorities were alerted to the scheme after postal inspectors seized an express mail package in February 2011 containing 1,569 grams of cocaine that had been addressed to a location along Nuñez's route, according to a criminal complaint.
Investigators then found that packages with similar weights and sequential tracking numbers -- but bearing false or inaccurate addresses -- had been sent along Nuñez's route dating back to October 2010, according to court papers.
Prosecutors said Nuñez switched to receiving packages at her Lyndhurst residence while out on medical leave, or to her boyfriend's former addresses.
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