Alleged heroin trafficker charged with kidnapping, torture in Gwinnett

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia is housed in the Richard B. Russell Federal Building in Atlanta, with additional offices in Rome, Newnan and Gainesville. (Image: U.S. District Court)

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia is housed in the Richard B. Russell Federal Building in Atlanta, with additional offices in Rome, Newnan and Gainesville. (Image: U.S. District Court)

Federal and local authorities have arrested an alleged heroin trafficker from Gwinnett County and charged him with kidnapping and torturing another man after luring him to Gwinnett from New York.

The suspect, identified as Edwin Cabral Mora, 38, was also accused in a four-count federal indicment of selling “large quantities” of heroin and brandishing a firearm during the commission of those offenses. He was arrested last week.

The news release from the U.S. attorney in New York City identifies the victim only as “Victim-1” and does not explain why he was abducted.

"Edwin Cabral Mora not only trafficked in large quantities of heroin, but turned to violence, including participating in a vicious kidnapping,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a press release.

According to the release, “Victim-1” was lured from the Bronx to Georgia in April 2016.

“Mora allegedly lured a victim from the Bronx to Georgia ... where Victim-1 was transported by car to an apartment in which Cabral Mora and others blindfolded, bound, beat, and tortured Victim-1 by burning Victim-1’s skin,” the government said.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration led the arrest of Cabral Mora with cooperation from the Georgia State Patrol, the GBI and a drug interdiction task force that includes more than a dozen police agencies in metro Atlanta, the release said.

Efforts to reach federal, state and local authorities on the holiday Monday were unsuccessful.

Cabral Mora, also known by the alias “Sosa,” is charged with conspiring to possess and distribute one kilogram and more of heroin, kidnapping, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, and the firearm charge.

Each of the four charges against Cabral Mora carries a maximum sentence of life in a federal prison.

"This allegedly dangerous man is now off the streets and will face criminal charges in New York federal court,” Bharara said.

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