Two D.C. men have been slapped with a decade behind bars for running a massive drug ring that flooded the capital with kilos of lethal fentanyl and cocaine from California. Mario Ernesto Benitez and Diamante Markell Hall, both 29, received their 10-year sentences after pleading guilty to conspiracy charges, the U.S. Attorney's Office revealed.

The duo's drug operation was busted wide open when alert employees at a shipping facility grew suspicious of packages bound for the District. Court documents, as reported by the Justice Department noted Benitez and Hall trafficked more than three kilograms and nearly six kilograms of fentanyl, respectively, along with substantial cocaine hauls.

Benitez, who sent the drugs under the alias “Martes Benito”, had the misfortune of his packages being intercepted and seized - a crushing blow to an elaborate scheme that had trafficked poison to the heart of America. When his pad was raided, cops found an arsenal including a loaded AR-style rifle, a Glock, over $57,000 in cold hard cash, and more of the deadly drugs he peddled. Hall, not to be outdone, had his own Glock with scratched-off serial numbers and his stash of drug money at his crib when the law caught up with him.

Both men were punished for their roles by U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich, who besides the prison time, tacked on five years of supervised release once they're sprung from the clinker. The pair used to jet set to LA, picking up their lethal cargo, and flying back with it to DC, and evidently, they thought they had a foolproof system until the feds rolled up.

The bust was part of a broader strike by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, a coordinated effort that unites multiple law enforcement agencies in a powerful punch against top-tier criminals. The case against Benitez and Hall was spearheaded by the FBI, the DEA, and the Virginia State Police, as detailed in a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.