MYNORTHWEST NEWS

King County drug dealer busted shipping heroin hidden in chocolates

May 28, 2014, 3:10 PM | Updated: 10:06 pm

Detectives display some of the heroin disguised as chocolates seized in a recent sting operation. (...

Detectives display some of the heroin disguised as chocolates seized in a recent sting operation. (King County Sheriff's Office)

(King County Sheriff's Office)

Detectives show the box used to ship heroin disguised as chocolates to Alaska seized in a recent sting operation. Authorities weigh some of the heroin disguised as chocolates seized in a recent sting operation. Authorities display some of the black tar heroin disguised as chocolate seized in a recent sting operation.

A South King County man is behind bars for swapping out hazelnuts for heroin in an elaborate scheme to smuggle drugs to Alaska.

The man, identified in federal charging documents as Jesus Rodriguez Horta, is accused of unwrapping the signature gold foil on Ferrero Rocher chocolate candies, replacing the chocolate and hazelnut with black tar heroin, wrapping them back up and shipping them to Alaska.

Detectives determined Horta, 46, was a main supplier of heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine to street level dealers around Shoreline, North Seattle and Edmonds, says King County Sheriff’s Sgt. DB Gates.

During their investigation they discovered he was also sending packages through the United States Postal Service to an address in Juneau. Detectives intercepted one of the packages shipped from a Shoreline post office and found the heroin-laced chocolates.

“It looked pretty close to commercially available candy people can buy at any store,” Gates says. “They’re going to continue looking for ways that the bad guys are going to disguise drugs. It’s always us trying to figure out their latest ways they’ve come up with.”

Postal Inspectors and police in Juneau served a warrant in Alaska February 28 and arrested one man, while King County detectives and a SWAT team served a warrant at a hotel in Kent and arrested Horta.

The investigation uncovered approximately 745 grams of heroin, 135 grams of methamphetamine, 90 grams of cocaine and 300 grams of ephedrine. While authorities did not find any signs of chocolates in the room, charging documents say they did find “plastic molds, which matched the shape and size of the balls of heroin concealed in the box of chocolates,” in Horta’s hotel room.

Gates says authorities waited until now to publicize the case because there were sensitive elements involved they did not want released to the public.

The case is ongoing and is being handled by the Postal Inspectors.

MyNorthwest News

delta sexual assault...

Frank Sumrall

Woman sues Delta Air Lines after sexually assaulted on flight by employee

Last year, a woman was sexually assaulted on a Delta Air Lines flight from Phoenix to Seattle by an airline employee.

52 minutes ago

Photo: Lewis and Clark High School students thought quickly to save their track coach's life....

Julia Dallas

Spokane high school students save track coach’s life after his heart stops

Two Spokane high school students used their quick thinking and past training to save their track coach's life last week.

3 hours ago

Image: Brightly colored eggs are set on a table on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington,...

Ted Buehner

Expect good Easter weekend weather for egg hunts, chilly evening Mariners games

Both Saturday and Sunday of Easter weekend will feature temperatures warming to around 60 degrees across much of Western Washington.

15 hours ago

Taylor Swift performs onstage during the Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour at Lumen Field on July 22, 20...

Micki Gamez, KIRO Newsradio and Bill Kaczaraba, MyNorthwest

Seattle tourism dollars break records following All-Star Week, Taylor Swift

It was a record-setting year for dollars flowing into Seattle from tourists.

16 hours ago

Image: A bridge in Carnation....

Julia Dallas

Carnation frustrated with Seattle again after 8th false emergency alarm induces widespread panic

Carnation citizens have faced a series of panic-inducing alarms after SPU's system for the Tolt Dam falsely sounded eight times.

17 hours ago

Grocery store shopper...

Bill Kaczaraba

Ways to deal with Seattle grocery store sticker shock

Seattle grocery store sticker shock continues to play havoc on locals, but there are ways to counter high prices.

18 hours ago

King County drug dealer busted shipping heroin hidden in chocolates