Connecticut man convicted of importing cocaine to Charleston port
A Connecticut man was convicted of importing cocaine into Charleston’s port after federal agents foiled his plan by using a confidential informant, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Oscar Baptiste, 40, of East Hartford, Conn., was found guilty Tuesday after a two-day trial in federal court in Charleston. He faces between five and 40 years in prison.
Baptiste, originally from Panama, started making plans to import cocaine into the Port of Charleston from Panama in 2010 by contacting a man he knew in the Lowcountry, according to federal prosecutors. That person contacted police and became a confidential informant.
“The person he reached out to was an associate of his in the Horry County area,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick Bianchi said. Prosecutors would not reveal the informant’s identity.
Read more later at postandcourier.com and in tomorrow’s newspaper.
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