Buffalo Man Arrested And Charged With Drug And Gun Possession

CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y. — U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Luis Miguel Cruz Del Moral, 37, of Buffalo, NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with possessing with intent to distribute a controlled substance and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The charges carry a minimum penalty of five years in prison, maximum penalty of life in prison and a $1,000,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan E. Leydecker, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, on the morning of September 17, 2021, Buffalo Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a New York State search warrant at Cruz Del Moral’s Ontario Street residence. During the search, investigators recovered five firearms, ammunition, a ballistic vest, two vials of suspected cocaine, drug packaging materials, and three scales with suspected cocaine residue.

Simultaneous to the execution of the Ontario Street search warrant, a separate search warrant was executed at a residence on South Lane in Buffalo. As investigators entered the residence, they encountered the defendant in the bathroom. In the toilet, law enforcement recovered a ripped-open plastic bag, and observed the toilet bowl lined with suspected cocaine. Investigators also found a loaded pistol in the bathroom. During the search, approximately 1 ½ grams of suspected cocaine, a large cocaine press, a small cocaine press, a digital scale with suspected cocaine residue, and $7,111 in United States currency was seized. A rifle, two magazines, ammunition, and glassine envelopes were also recovered from Cruz-Del Moral’s vehicle. The defendant was arrested at the scene.

The complaint is the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge John B. DeVito, New York Field Division; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Safe Streets Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Stephen Belongia; and the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Byron Lockwood.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. 

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