New Orleans Man Sentenced for Role in Large Scale Cocaine Conspiracy

NEW ORLEANS – On November 2, 2023, United States District Judge Jay C. Zainey sentenced HAKIM SHABAZZ, age 46, of New Orleans, for conspiring to violate the Controlled Substances Act, announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans. 

Judge Zainey sentenced SHABAZZ to 60 months in the Bureau of Prisons to be followed by 5 years of supervised release.  He also ordered SHABAZZ to pay a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.

According to court records, the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office stopped an individual traveling from New Orleans to Houston on Interstate 10 and found $948,174 in cash in the vehicle, as well as several cell phones.  Those phones contained text messages about drug trafficking, as well as ledgers.  By analyzing text messages and phone records, agents determined that SHABAZZ, who operated an auto body shop, was receiving cocaine shipments, that were hidden in gas canisters, and distributing them throughout New Orleans.  SHABAZZ admitted that the conspiracy involved between 50 and 150 kilograms of cocaine. 

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office.  Assistant United States Attorney David Haller of the Violent Crime Unit is in charge of the prosecution.