Mexican National Indicted for Cocaine Trafficking

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Mexican national has been indicted by a federal grand jury for possessing more than two kilograms of cocaine thrown from his vehicle while fleeing from police officers.

Rosvel Flores Montantes, 33, a citizen of Mexico residing in Kansas City, Kan., was charged with one count of possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo., on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017. The indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint filed against Flores on Nov. 15, 2017.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, the investigation began with a confidential source who was in contact with a broker in Mexico to engage in a cocaine transaction. Investigators were informed that a transaction would take place in the parking lot of the Super 8 motel in Riverside, Mo.

Flores arrived at the parking lot driving a Ford F-250 and approached a Nissan sedan. Flores got out of his truck, engaged in conversation with the occupant of the other vehicle, then got into the passenger side of the Nissan. Flores got out of the Nissan and retrieved something from the truck, then returned to the passenger seat of the Nissan. Flores got out of the Nissan again, this time carrying a pastel-colored bag, got back into the truck, and began to leave the parking lot.

Officers attempted to make a traffic stop, the affidavit says, because the license plates on the truck belonged to another vehicle. However, upon observing the lights and sirens of the police vehicles, Flores began to elude law enforcement officers by speeding and failing to stop for traffic signals. The F-250 truck began traveling at high speeds onto I-635 North, ignoring the emergency lights and sirens of multiple law enforcement marked and unmarked units.

The F-250 truck performed several evasive maneuvers for approximately seven to 10 minutes in an attempt to evade law enforcement. The F-250 finally came to an abrupt stop going north bound on 69 Highway just past Merriam Lane in Merriam, Kan. Flores and a passenger got out of the truck and attempted to flee from law enforcement officers on foot. They were both arrested.

Investigators found the pastel bag, which had been discarded during the pursuit, by retracing the path of the fleeing vehicle. According to the affidavit, the bag contained four brick-size amounts of cocaine wrapped in dark-colored wrapping, which weighed a total of 2,355 grams.
 
Larson cautioned that the charge contained in this indictment is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Clark. It was investigated by the FBI and the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.