Drug trafficker who moved 956 kilograms of drugs from California to the East Coast sentenced to prison following HSI investigation

Homeland Security Investigations has announced that Brahmananda Prasad, of Queens, New York, was sentenced to prison following an intensive HSI investigation into a nationwide cocaine-trafficking conspiracy. The conspiracy was responsible for moving 956 kilograms of cocaine from California to the East Coast for further distribution.

U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika sentenced Prasad, 65, to 275 months in prison for his leadership role in the conspiracy. The court also ordered forfeiture of $2,495,500, representing the gross proceeds of Prasad’s cocaine trafficking enterprise.

“This sentence sends a clear message to those who would attempt to profit from poisoning our communities with dangerous drugs,” said HSI Philadelphia acting Special Agent in Charge Nathan Abel. “Through persistent investigative work and strong partnerships with our law enforcement counterparts, HSI dismantled a coast-to-coast trafficking operation responsible for flooding the East Coast with staggering quantities of cocaine. We remain committed to holding traffickers accountable and protecting our neighborhoods from the devastating impact of narcotics distribution.”

According to court documents and evidence presented in connection with sentencing, Prasad orchestrated a coast-to-coast cocaine distribution network by repeatedly traveling from New York to California to pick up large quantities of cocaine from suppliers. On each trip, he routinely purchased between 20 and 24 kilograms of cocaine, and on some occasions acquired approximately 48 kilograms at a time.

Prasad arranged to ship the drugs from California to New York, directing others to pose as representatives of a purportedly legitimate shipping business to evade law enforcement detection. After the cocaine reached the East Coast, Prasad supplied it to drug dealers in New York and Maryland. Those dealers spread the dangerous drug into Delaware and other states along the East Coast.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative. The HSTF is a United States government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, transnational gangs, and transnational criminal organizations worldwide. This initiative identifies TCOs engaged in a wide range of criminal schemes that violate federal law, while dismantling cross-border human smuggling and trafficking networks that fuel violence and instability that threatens the safety and security of the United States and its global partners. It also places a particular emphasis on criminal offenses involving children and ensures the use of all available law enforcement tools to prosecute offenders and/or facilitate the removal of criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Philadelphia comprises agents and from U.S. Department of Homeland Security, ICE HSI; the Federal Bureau of Investigation); the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania; the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware; the DEA; the ATF; IRS-CI; the U.S. Marshals Service; the Liberty Mid-Atlantic High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program; the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service; and the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware led the prosecution.