GULFPORT — Records show two Biloxi men are accused of conspiring to smuggle hundreds of pounds of marijuana to the Coast, including dozens of shipments delivered by United Parcel Service and some hauled in by an 18-wheeler.
Kyle Mark Wentzell, 54, and Neil Thompson, 37, are among several suspects named in a federal complaint that has resulted in another man’s arrest and a subsequent guilty plea.
The amount shipped by UPS alone accounts for 2,100 pounds of marijuana, according to a DEA agent’s sworn statement.
Court records show the Coast probe began on Feb. 3 when drug agents searched the D’Iberville home of a Coast businessman; his name has not been released. Drug agents said a shed at the man’s home was used to store marijuana and a supply of cocaine was found at his business.
Alonzo Sustaita Elizondo, 46, of Elsa, Texas, was arrested on cocaine and marijuana charges. He accepted a plea agreement and is held to await sentencing. He faces five to 40 years in prison.
Complaints allege the group of people involved stopped deliveries in 1998 after the supplier’s arrest in Texas. The DEA believes the shipments resumed in 2006.
The DEA believes a truck driver delivered one shipment in 2009 at an abandoned gas station on Interstate 20 in Newton, Miss. Wentzell is accused of helping coordinate that delivery and of flying to El Paso the same year to coordinate another shipment.
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