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Statesville man busted with 1 kilo of meth hidden in cat litter box, officials say

STATESVILLE, N.C. — A Statesville man was convicted on drug-trafficking charges Friday after prosecutors said he and co-conspirators sold more than $1.5 million of methamphetamine, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Carlos Antonio Flores, 34, and his co-conspirators were caught when law enforcement discovered 1 kilogram of the drug concealed in a cat litter box, according to authorities.

Flores and the others distributed 15 kilograms of meth from as early as April 2015 through Oct. 30, 2015 mostly in Iredell, Alexander, Caldwell, Catawba and Ashe counties, prosecutors said.

The prosecution is part of a joint-agency ongoing investigation that has resulted in the conviction of more than 200 defendants on meth-trafficking and firearms charges.

Flores was convicted of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, following a three-day trial that ended Thursday, said Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

Flores has been in federal custody since October 2015. At sentencing, Flores faces a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum term of life in prison, as well as a fine of up to $10 million.

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