Colombian
Traffickers Plead Guilty to International Maritime Drug Trafficking Conspiracy
Three
Colombian citizens pleaded guilty today for conspiring to transport more than
1,000 kilograms of cocaine on board “go-fast boats” from the north coast of Colombia
into international waters on vessels subject to the jurisdiction of the United
States.
Assistant
Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal
Division and Administrator Michele M. Leonhart of the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) made the announcement.
Angel
Javier Varon Castro, 43; Luis Delio Herrera Astudillo, 45; and Eusebio David
Webster Archbold, 33, all Colombian nationals, pleaded guilty before U.S.
District Judge Beryl A. Howell of the District of Columbia to one count of
conspiracy to distribute cocaine and possess with intent to distribute cocaine
on board a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Sentencing is set for Jan. 9, 2015.
“Today’s
guilty pleas highlight our successful and vigorous partnership with Colombian
law enforcement as we work to halt the flow of drugs heading north from the
coast of Colombia,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell.
“These defendants and their drug trafficking
partners used seagoing vessels to inject vast quantities of cocaine into
international commerce.
But while drug traffickers may believe they
can operate on the high seas with impunity, today’s convictions prove
otherwise.
Working
with our international partners, we will bring to justice those who would flood
our ports and, ultimately, our communities with dangerous narcotics.”
“The
arrests and guilty pleas of these three international drug smugglers are the
direct result of the resolute partnership between the DEA and our Colombian law
enforcement partners,
” Said DEA
Administrator Leonhart.“
This is
another example of the fine work that DEA, prosecutors, and our partners around
the globe accomplish every day.”
According
to their plea agreements, the defendants worked for a drug-trafficking
organization responsible for transporting cocaine aboard go-fast vessels
leaving from the area of Cartagena, Colombia, to Central America, and traveling
in international waters on vessels subject to the jurisdiction of the United
States.
During the
investigation, pursuant to Colombian judicial authority, law enforcement
recorded the defendants’ telephone conversations in which they planned the
operation, including the use of two 40-foot go-fast vessels.
These boats
were later intercepted in February and April 2010 in international waters by
the United States Coast Guard. Go-fast
vessels are specially equipped speed boats designed to transport large
quantities of narcotics.
This
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) case, called Operation
Pacific Empire, is being investigated by DEA’s Cartagena Country Office,
assisted by DEA’s offices in Miami and Puerto Rico.
The
Cartagena office worked in partnership with the Judicial Police of the
Prosecutor General’s Office in Colombia (CTI) and the Colombian National
Police.
The case is
being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Meredith Mills, Brad Price and Paul Laymon
of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, with
significant assistance from the Judicial Attachés in Bogotá, Colombia, the
Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, and the Prosecutor
General’s Office of the Republic of Colombia.
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“The
arrests and guilty pleas of these three international drug smugglers are the
direct result of the resolute partnership between the DEA and our Colombian law
enforcement partners,
