A 58-year-old Catonsville man accused of running a $25 million drug-trafficking operation out of a West Baltimore laundromat and a pair of warehouses has pleaded not guilty to federal charges and remains locked up ahead of trial. George Robinson was named as the head of the alleged conspiracy after investigators say they found 83 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a truck bed, along with fentanyl, cash and a firearm scattered across properties tied to him and a co-defendant.
Robinson was one of six people charged in the indictment, which was unsealed in September 2026, according to The Baltimore Banner. Prosecutors allege Robinson led the operation, sourcing drugs from Mexico and moving them through steel structures loaded onto flatbed tractor-trailers. Per tipsters cited in the case, shipments reportedly ran between 50 and 150 kilograms at a time. DEA agents tracked one pickup truck from a West Baltimore warehouse through western Maryland before local police pulled it over on Interstate 70, where investigators say they discovered the 83 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a compartment in the truck bed, the drugs reportedly coated in grease.
Cash, Cocaine and Fentanyl Turned Up Across Multiple Sites
Cori Grant, also charged in the case, allegedly had 38 kilograms of cocaine seized along with 4 more kilograms recovered from her apartment. Agents also seized 6 kilograms of cocaine from a warehouse on Commerce Drive in Halethorpe, one of the properties Robinson is accused of operating alongside another warehouse in West Baltimore. Investigators recovered 8 kilograms of fentanyl and a gun at Robinson's laundromat on Walbrook Avenue, according to the same account.
Cash piled up at nearly every location tied to Robinson. Investigators seized about $769,000 in cash at the Walbrook Avenue laundromat and another $314,000 from his home in Baltimore County. In total, law enforcement officials recovered approximately $1.5 million in cash, more than 140 kilograms of cocaine and about 12 kilograms of fentanyl connected to the case, per the report.
Prosecutor Calls the Seizure Among the Largest of His Career
Assistant U.S. Attorney John Sippel Jr. described the volume of drugs being moved as colossal, saying it ranked among the largest seizures he had encountered in more than two decades as a federal prosecutor. Sippel also told the court that Robinson functioned as the CEO of the drug-trafficking business, saying he was able to run a major operation on a daily basis. Law enforcement reportedly watched Robinson daily for eight or nine months before the case moved forward, and he was arrested on state charges in May 2026 ahead of the federal indictment.
Robinson has one known prior conviction: he was convicted of heroin distribution in 2002 and sentenced to 37 months in federal prison, according to the Banner's reporting.
Attorney Cites Failing Eyesight in Bid for Release
Robinson's attorney, Jeremy Eldridge, argued that his client should be released pending trial rather than held behind bars, telling the court that Robinson is losing his eyesight. Eldridge pointed to Robinson's type 2 diabetes and macular degeneration as reasons for release. U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Mark Coulson ultimately ordered Robinson to remain detained pending trial, but signaled a willingness to revisit that decision if Robinson does not receive proper medical care while in custody.
The case adds to a string of recent federal drug prosecutions in Maryland. Federal authorities in Maryland announced separate charges involving fentanyl and a firearm tied to a drug-trafficking crime, according to a DEA.gov announcement dated Sept. 2, 2026, and the agency separately reported in February that three members of a Baltimore drug-trafficking organization were under indictment for crimes spanning November 2025 through January 2026. The U.S. Department of Justice also announced charges in a separate Maryland fentanyl-trafficking conspiracy involving a father and son in late August 2026.
