Scranton Man Sentenced To 36 Months’ Imprisonment For Acting As Courier In A Cocaine Trafficking Conspiracy

SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that United States District Judge Robert D. Mariani sentenced Arnaldo Caban-Soto, age 29, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, to 36 months’ imprisonment and a 3-year term of supervised release, for conspiring to distribute cocaine.

According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, on November 13, 2021, Caban-Soto was surveilled to a residence in Scranton, where he took possession of a package that authorities suspected contained a significant quantity of illegal drugs.  Following a motor vehicle stop, Caban-Soto was detained while a search warrant was obtained for the package.  Inside the package, authorities located approximately 3 Kilograms of cocaine.  Further investigation revealed that the package was shipped to Northeastern Pennsylvania from Puerto Rico, and that Caban-Soto’s role in the drug trafficking conspiracy was to transport the cocaine to a location in New York where it would be packaged for further distribution.   

This matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Scranton Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney Jeffery St John prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

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