A major drug cartel that moves 250 pounds of cocaine at a clip from Puerto Rico to The Bronx could have been taken down two years ago — but Connecticut cops completely botched the case, sources told The Post.
The coke was being moved through a UPS warehouse just outside of Hartford, but rather than track the shipments to their destination, the local cops instead arrested the “courier” in May 2011 and seized just one shipment.
Local cops praised themselves for one of the biggest busts in state history, but sources said they missed a bigger opportunity.
“They could have used planes to follow the shipment back to New York and broken up a huge drug cartel supplying the Northeast,” a source said. “They did nothing.”
The courier — Iraq War veteran Edwin Olivo Jr., 39 — wasn’t even part of the ring, a jury found. He beat all but one minor charge and was told he’ll be out of jail within two weeks because he had no clue he was moving drugs.
Olivo had taken several similar shipments labeled “elevator parts” to Hunts Point the same way he moves furniture and other items — without question, his lawyer, Martin Minnella, said.
Authorities still have no lead on the actual drug traffickers, a source close to the case said.
Connecticut State police did not return calls for comment.
“This was a mangled investigation,” one source said.