Catonsville man charged in ‘colossal’ federal cocaine bust

Not long after receiving word last fall about a “well-known large-scale” supplier of cocaine and other drugs, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents tracked a pickup truck as it left a West Baltimore warehouse and rolled through Western Maryland.

After local cops were directed in November 2025 to pull over the truck on Interstate 70, federal investigators said they found 83 kilograms of cocaine in a hidden compartment in the truck bed. The cocaine was slathered in grease in an apparent unsuccessful attempt to throw off a drug-sniffing dog.

In the ensuing months, law enforcement officials said they recovered more than 140 kilograms of cocaine, about 12 kilograms of fentanyl and approximately $1.5 million in cash.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Sippel Jr. this week described the amount of drugs being moved as “colossal,” telling a judge that it’s one of the largest busts he’s seen in more than two decades as a federal prosecutor. The U.S. attorney’s office in Maryland put the value of the conspiracy at $25 million in an indictment, unsealed this month, charging six people.

The head of the conspiracy, prosecutors allege, is George Robinson, 58, a Catonsville resident who operated out of warehouses in West Baltimore and Halethorpe, as well as a tiny laundromat.

Sippel noted that some of the organization’s activities were “very out in the open.”

“It reflects a business,” Sippel said. “And Mr. Robinson was the CEO of that business.”

Robinson appeared in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on Wednesday, where he pleaded not guilty and was ordered detained pending trial.

Prosecutors allege Robinson obtained drugs — tipsters claimed 50 to 150 kilograms at a time — from a source in Mexico, and the drugs were usually transported and concealed in steel structures loaded onto flatbed tractor trailers.

A review of court records found that Robinson appears to have only one conviction, in 2002, for heroin distribution; he was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison. In recent years, he incorporated businesses and purchased properties used for business purposes or for renting out, records show.

Robinson was first arrested on state charges in May. While incarcerated, he spoke to family members about exaggerating his medical conditions to get released, Sippel said.

But Sippel noted that law enforcement watched Robinson daily for eight or nine months. “He was able to run a major drug-trafficking organization on a daily basis,” Sippel said. “This was his job.”

Agents seized 38 kilograms of cocaine from one of Robinson’s alleged co-conspirators, Cori Grant, who has also been charged in the bust. An additional 4 kilograms were seized from Grant’s apartment. And 6 more kilograms were seized from a warehouse on Commerce Drive in Halethorpe.

Grant’s attorney, Andrew White, declined to comment.

Investigators reported that they seized about $769,000 in cash, 8 kilograms of fentanyl and a gun at a laundromat owned by Robinson on Walbrook Avenue. Another $314,000 in cash was seized from Robinson’s home in Baltimore County.

Robinson’s attorney, Jeremy Eldridge, argued for his client’s release pending trial.

Eldridge argued that Robinson has a “very complicated medical history,” including Type 2 diabetes and macular degeneration. He said his client could not exaggerate conditions such as increased eye pressure.

“Undeniably, he is losing his eyesight,” Eldridge said.

When Robinson was previously incarcerated at the Metropolitan Transition Center, he did not receive adequate medical care, Eldridge said. Baltimore Circuit Judge Dana Middleton, Eldridge said, later agreed to release him on home detention — and he was compliant.

The defense attorney expressed concerns that his client would continue to deteriorate and be unable to meaningfully assist in the defense.

U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Mark Coulson later ordered Robinson to remain detained pending his trial. The judge signaled a willingness to revisit that decision if Robinson does not receive proper medical care.