KANSAS CITY, Mo. - David M. Ketchmark, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in one of the largest cocaine trafficking rings in the Kansas City area.

Operation Blockbuster dismantled a local drug-trafficking organization that smuggled hundreds of kilograms of cocaine worth millions of dollars from Mexico to distribute in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Operation Blockbuster was a multi-agency investigation that also involved the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Kansas, resulting in three separate indictments that charged 31 defendants.

Edward W. Jefferson, a local rap artist also known as “Black Walt,” 40, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Nanette K. Laughrey to 240 months in federal prison without parole.

On June 30, 2011, Jefferson was convicted at trial of participating in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine from Jan. 1, 2007, to Feb. 11, 2010. He was also found guilty of using a telephone to promote the drug-trafficking conspiracy.

According to court documents, Jefferson sold 283 kilograms of cocaine that he obtained from the leader of the conspiracy, Alejandro S. Corredor, also known as “Lou Lou,” “Rolo,” and “Alex,” 37, a citizen of Colombia residing in Kansas City, Mo. Corredor, who had connections with a Mexican drug cartel, was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison without parole after pleading guilty in a separate but related case.

Corredor called his supplier in Mexico to order cocaine to be delivered to the Kansas City metropolitan area. A normal load of cocaine would be from 20 to 50 kilograms, which was smuggled in vehicles driven to Kansas City from Mexico. After Corredor sold the cocaine and collected the money, he packaged the cash in bundles that were hidden in false compartments of various vehicles. The vehicles would then deliver the money to the El Paso, Texas, area, where it would be transported across the border into Mexico.

Jefferson’s four co-defendants have already been sentenced. Dandrae L. Jones, also known as “Bird,” 36, of Kansas City, was also found guilty at trial of the drug-trafficking conspiracy and was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison without parole. Marlon Jordan, 30, of Kansas City, was sentenced to five years in federal prison without parole after pleading guilty to his role in the drug-trafficking conspiracy. Michael D. Davis, 27, of Kansas City was sentenced to four years and six months in federal prison without parole after pleading guilty to his role in the drug-trafficking conspiracy. Miguel Villa, 32, of St. Paul, was also found guilty at trial and was sentenced to two years and nine months in federal prison without parole. Villa was convicted of bulk cash smuggling for attempting to transport $300,000 in hidden compartments of a Ford F-150 truck.

During Operation Blockbuster, law enforcement officers seized large quantities of cocaine and marijuana and millions of dollars in drug proceeds. For example, while executing a search warrant at a Kansas City, Mo., residence, officers seized 46 kilogram bundles of cocaine, $151,000, and a drug ledger. The ledger showed that during a four-month period of time this drug-trafficking organization distributed more than 800 kilograms of cocaine and received $10 million in drug proceeds.

Law enforcement officers also seized more than $1.6 million that was hidden in two vehicles on March 9, 2009. Agents were conducting surveillance at a Kansas City residence that day when they observed conspirators hiding what they learned were bundles of cash inside the door panels of a Jeep Cherokee. The Jeep was stopped by a trooper with the Missouri State Highway Patrol while traveling through Cass County, Mo. During a search of the Jeep and a Nissan that was being towed, the trooper recovered 163 bundles of cash. Among several other cash seizures, officers seized nearly $654,000 in a traffic stop on May 9, 2009, and more than $50,000 from another vehicle on May 19, 2009, all of which was proceeds from the drug-trafficking conspiracy.

These cases were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph M. Marquez and Patrick D. Daly. They were investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.

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