An Edinburg man was convicted for possession with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.

Orlando Candelario Almanza, 50, pleaded guilty on Oct. 23, 2023. He was a UPS employee for over 20 years and used his knowledge to work around security protocols and ship cocaine filled packages on behalf of drug traffickers, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Law enforcement across the country seized several packages of cocaine, which were traced back to the McAllen UPS facility and to Almanza. Another employee, identified as 51-year-old Fidencio Salinas Jr., from Pharr, was also connected to the packages.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said after several months of investigation, in October 2022, authorities observed Almanza receive a package from drug traffickers while on duty. The package was destined for Tennessee and contained 10 kilograms of cocaine.

Almanza was paid $300-$500 per cocaine-filled package that was shipped, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

During the court hearing, additional evidence was shown about Almanza's high ranking position at UPS. He was not only a driver, but also responsible for delivering packages directly to UPS carrier airplanes for outbound deliveries.

Almanza was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility. He was ordered to serve six years in federal prison, which will be followed by three years of supervised release.

Salinas, who was a UPS employee for seven years, was sentenced to two years in federal prison.