How the suspected drug ringleader is related to Mercedes Vega

On November 27, 2024By Online Niel

PHOENIX (AZ Family) — The man at the center of an alleged cross-country drug-trafficking operation has a connection to Mercedes Vega, the victim of a brutal murder case we’ve been following for more than a year.

The murdered woman was supposed to testify against him.

Cudjoe Young was charged with armed robbery against Vega after he allegedly held her at gunpoint and took her belongings in 2020. He was arrested after she singled him out in a group.

Now we’ve learned that Young was running an illegal drug operation, shipping narcotics and fentanyl across the country, according to court documents unsealed in an investigation by the attorney general’s office.

Vega’s mother, Erika Pillsbury, told the Arizona family in July how terrifying the robbery was.

“She was shaking so badly, she was so terrified, so I picked her up. She wanted the police to sit there until I drove away,” Pillsbury said through tears.

That robbery was the catalyst for Vega’s move to a new apartment complex in Tempe. But there, in April 2023, it disappeared.

Vega was found a day later burning alive in a car off I-10 near Tonopah. She had been shot in the arm, hit in the head and had bleach down her throat. The case remained unsolved until this month, when police arrested and charged Sencere Hayes, of Tennessee, with her murder.

Documents from the Attorney General’s office show that before, during and after Vega’s death, Young was part of a drug ring investigation involving nearly a dozen defendants. He now faces a 10-count indictment, including money laundering, conspiracy, unlawful conduct of an enterprise and weapons misconduct, to name a few.

According to state records, Young brokered drug deals in Arizona and across the country, working with various defendants, sending them with suitcases to Sky Harbor Airport to fly and deliver narcotics, namely thousands of fentanyl pills, to other cities such as New York and Atlanta. .

Police intercepted his calls and text messages and monitored him to build their case. Court records revealed the scope of the investigation. They showed that the DEA, Tempe PD, Phoenix PD, Mesa PD, Homeland Security and Salt River PD were all involved.

Other defendants in the drug case have taken plea deals.

While Young is believed to be the ringleader, documents show the state did not offer him a plea deal in the case because he has other pending criminal cases. He just had a status hearing on the drug-trafficking case last week, while Vega’s armed robbery remains in court.

As for Young and first degree murder suspect Hayes, we know they are both from the Chattanooga area, but there is no other known connection between them at this time.

A trial date has been postponed many times, but is now set for January 2025.

Hayes is due back in court next week for the murder case as it moves forward as well.

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