A Florida man has been ordered held without bond after federal authorities say he was caught selling “wholesale quantities” of drugs and stolen guns, including assault rifles, from his driveway.
Andres Zamora’s alleged black market just north of Miami came to a screeching halt this month after an 18-month undercover investigation, the Sun Sentinel reported.
On Wednesday, a federal judged ruled that Zamora will remain held behind bars, following his Nov. 6 arrest, after it was determined that he is a danger to the community as well as a flight risk.
Federal prosecutors say the 51-year-old was peddling not only cocaine and heroin but also ballistic vests and at least one AK-47 from his Hollywood home.
Between 2010 and July of this year, they say, more than $400,000 in cash passed through bank accounts controlled by Zamora. Those funds allegedly came at the same time he was receiving $20,000 to $30,000 in Social Security disability payments while reporting no other legitimate income.
Zamora allegedly bragged to undercover operatives about his business, which he said was partially fueled by a “group of kids” that would break into homes and businesses and steal the firearms he’d then sell.
An informant tipped off authorities to his alleged scheme in 2014.
Zamora's arrest comes about 17 years after the Cuban immigrant was ordered to be deported from the U.S. in 1998 after he was convicted of trafficking cocaine and sentenced to five years in state prison.
He managed to escape that deportation because of the U.S. ban on returning Cuban nationals to the island nation, the Sun Sentinel reported.
He now faces charges that he dealt drugs, illegally sold firearms, was a felon in possession of a weapon and committed Social Security benefits fraud.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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