Ties That Bind: Feds target Albuquerque man in Vegas drug trafficking investigation

Agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency arrived in Las Vegas on Aug. 13, 2019, although it’s likely no one noticed them. Following months of surveillance, they’d tracked a suspected drug trafficker to a home in the 900 block of Commerce Street, a residence agents allege was being used to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine.

The DEA’s months-long investigation culminated in September 2019 with multiple raids on Las Vegas homes and a bank, in a joint effort with the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies. By Sept. 20, eight people were in federal custody, including Robert Corbin Padilla, an Albuquerque man federal law enforcement agencies allege was behind the majority of illegal drug sales in Las Vegas.

This was not the first time federal authorities investigated Padilla for drug trafficking. According to affidavits filed in U.S. District Court, the DEA and the Region IV Narcotics Task Force investigated Padilla in the spring of 2019, but task force officers believed someone within the district attorney’s office had told Padilla about the investigation, and the investigation was tabled.

DEA agents investigated Padilla first in 2011, and during surveillance in March of that year, agents witnessed Padilla give a man on a motorcycle a backpack. After a traffic stop of the motorcyclist, agents secured a search warrant and located $17,783 in cash in the backpack. Agent’s searched Padilla’s Rio Rancho home in November 2011, but did not locate any drugs, contraband or evidence of drug trafficking, according to affidavits. Agents allege Padilla had received a tip that the DEA was securing the search warrant before they could search his home.

Six years later, the DEA renewed its investigation into Padilla. Affidavits allege that by March 2017, Padilla was living in both Albuquerque and Las Vegas, and that he was involved in trafficking drugs, but the investigation was eventually set aside.

In the fall of 2017, someone from the Las Vegas Police Department contacted the DEA to say they had information about Padilla’s trafficking activities, but the person said they didn’t trust LVPD officers and detectives with the information because they “looked the other way” when it came to Padilla, according to an affidavit.

The LVPD employee gave DEA agents information about Padilla’s girlfriend, Sharlett M. Martinez, who managed the Wells Fargo branch in Las Vegas. The LVPD employee stated that on Jan. 21, 2018, Martinez had withdrawn $20,000 from her private account in $20 bills. Padilla too had a personal account at the bank, as well as a business account for a septic company.

The information launched a new investigation into Padilla, and between October 2018 and April 2019, the DEA obtained multiple wiretaps for Padilla’s phones and for his home security system. Agents also placed surveillance cameras hidden inside streetlights around Las Vegas, according to an affidavit. Surveillance by DEA and IRS agents showed that Martinez made “multiple same-day financial transactions in small individual amounts that add up to a much greater total,” according to an affidavit.

In April 2019, Agents arranged for a confidential informant to purchase $20,000 worth of crack cocaine and powder cocaine from Padilla. A day after the transaction, Padilla contacted a real estate agent in Las Vegas to help him purchase a mobile home and land listed for around $21,000. On the same day, DEA agents intercepted a phone call between Padilla and Martinez where Padilla instructed her to withdraw $10,000 from her 401(k) account, which agents allege was an attempt to launder the drug money, making it appear as though Martinez was purchasing the property with cash from a retirement account.

Following the drug sale, a U.S. District Court judge authorized a warrant to search and seize a 2008 GMC Yukon, a vehicle registered to Padilla. On Aug. 12, agents had the Yukon towed from Padilla’s home in Albuquerque’s Northeast Heights while he was in Las Vegas. During a search of the SUV, agents located $1,243 in cash, a Glock 9 mm pistol, and a “significant amount of ammunition,” including 9 mm, .223 and .45-caliber rounds, according to an affidavit.

After obtaining a warrant to track the GPS data of one of Padilla’s cell phones, on Aug. 13, 2019, agents tracked Padilla to the home on Commerce Street. Parked in front of the house were several vehicles agents allege Padilla often drove, but did not own, including a “distinctive” black Chevy Corvette.

Days later, on Aug. 15, 2019, agents executed another search warrant in Albuquerque for a 2008 Nissan Armada that wasn’t owned by Padilla, but was parked at his home. A dog trained to detect the odor of controlled substances led agents to $2,000 in the center console.

While searching the Nissan in Albuquerque, agents in Las Vegas were tracking the movements of Padilla and Martinez. They tracked Martinez’s vehicle to the Best Western Plus on North Grand Avenue where she’d rented a room. Agents believed Padilla was inside, possibly trying to avoid agents.

Agents secured a search warrant for the third-floor room, and on Aug. 15, they executed that warrant. Padilla was not in the room; Martinez was there with her children. During a search of the room, a police dog trained to detect controlled substances led agents to Martinez’s purse where they located $9,950 in cash, according to affidavits. Martinez said the money had been given to her by Padilla.

On Sept. 11, 2019, a grand jury indicted Padilla and others on federal charges of distribution of controlled substances, and Padilla was arrested in Albuquerque on Sept. 19, 2019.

A trial has been scheduled to begin Oct. 21, 2021, though a plea agreement could be introduced prior to the start of a trial. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic could also delay a trial.

Padilla’s attorney, Joe M. Romero, Jr., told the Optic he is still in the process of reviewing evidence in the case and preparing for a trial, if there is one.

Martinez has not been charged in the case. A spokesman for Wells Fargo has previously acknowledged a federal investigation, but would not comment on the status of Martinez’s employment with the company.

In March 2015, Padilla accepted a plea agreement in the Fourth Judicial District Court in which he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of battery. He has no felony convictions.