Maryland Man and California Co-Conspirator Plead Guilty to Drug Trafficking Charges

Baltimore, Maryland - A Maryland man and his California co-conspirator pled guilty in federal court in connection with drug trafficking crimes.

Norville Clarke, 56, of Clarksburg, Maryland, and Daniel Cruz, 39, of Los Angeles, California, are both charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.

Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the guilty plea with Postal Inspector in Charge Damon E. Wood of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) - Washington Division; Special Agent in Charge Christopher C. Goumenis, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) - Washington Division; Colonel Michael A. Jackson, Secretary of State Police, Maryland State Police (MSP); Chief Marc R. Yamada, Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD); and Chief George Nader, Prince George's County Police Department (PGPD).

According to the guilty plea, in 2023, multiple federal agencies partnered to investigate a drug-trafficking organization (DTO) transporting and distributing large quantities of cocaine from California to Maryland. The investigation began in March 2023, when MSP seized a parcel that contained approximately two kilograms of cocaine. The parcel was mailed from the Los Angeles area and was destined for Clarke's auto-repair shop in District Heights, Maryland. Through investigating the source of the parcel, postal inspectors and other law enforcement investigators linked Cruz to the narcotics contained within the parcel.

In January 2024, postal inspectors and other investigators identified a freight-shipment container shipped from Los Angeles, destined for Clarke's auto-repair shop in District Heights, Maryland. Law enforcement identified Cruz on surveillance footage dropping off the freight shipment at the shipping company in California. The authorities further observed Cruz traveling to Maryland to follow the shipment for delivery.

Postal inspectors and other law enforcement investigators observed Cruz and Clarke meeting at Clarke's auto-repair shop several days after the freight shipment was sent from California. Investigators then located the freight shipment in Dulles, Viriginia, where a law enforcement K-9 officer scanned it. After the K-9 officer indicated the presence of narcotics in the shipment, law enforcement obtained a search warrant for the freight container. Then postal inspectors and law-enforcement investigators located two automobile transmissions inside. Law enforcement found 20, one-kilogram bricks secreted in the oil pans of both transmissions that laboratory forensic tests later confirmed were more than 16 kilograms of cocaine.

Postal inspectors, DEA agents, MSP officers and other members of law enforcement then executed search warrants at Clarke's District Heights auto-repair shop, Clarke's Clarksburg residence, and Cruz's hotel room in Capitol Heights, Maryland. At the auto-repair shop, law enforcement located an additional 502.4 grams of cocaine and then found two-kilogram bricks of cocaine and $45,730 in U.S. Currency at Clarke's residence. Investigators later identified an additional nine historical freight shipments that mirrored the original shipment that contained cocaine that Cruz sent to Clarke's auto-repair shop utilizing the same freight shipping company.

In their plea agreements, Clarke and Cruz both agreed that they were involved in possessing almost 22 kilograms of cocaine in furtherance of this drug trafficking conspiracy. Clarke and Cruz face a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison, followed by up to lifetime of supervised release. Cruz's sentencing is scheduled for Thursday, June 18, at 1 p.m. Sentencing for Clarke is scheduled for Friday, July 24, at 10 a.m.

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.

U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the USPIS, DEA, MSP, MCPD, and PGPD for their work in the investigation. Ms. Hayes also thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick Rigney and Michael Jaskiw who are prosecuting this federal case.

For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit justice.gov/usao-md and justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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