Son of Guatemalan politician sentenced to prison for cocaine trafficking
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A man from Guatemala was sentenced in San Diego to 14 years in prison after a joint investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection revealed he was orchestrating cocaine trafficking operations.
Arnoldo Oswaldo Vargas-Samayoa, 50, of Zacapa, Guatemala, was sentenced in federal court on Wednesday, May 23.
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He pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to import cocaine. According to ICE, the charges were filed five years ago in January 2020.
Vargas surrendered to authorities in June 2024 at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), ICE stated.
Authorities said prior to his arrest, he managed a cocaine trafficking organization that smuggled more than 1,000 pounds of cocaine into the U.S. from Guatemala.
'This sentencing sends the message that those who traffic dangerous drugs into our country will be held accountable,' said ICE Homeland Security Investigations San Diego Special Agent in Charge Shawn Gibson. 'Thanks to the outstanding investigative work and strong domestic and international law enforcement partnerships, we were able to disrupt a key supply line of a major drug trafficking network.'
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According to ICE, Vargas admitted he had sourced the cocaine from two different Guatemalan suppliers and coordinated delivery to another trafficker in Mexico by arranging for the drugs to be concealed in vehicles and smuggled into the U.S.
Vargas received $1,000 in U.S. dollars for each kilogram of cocaine he delivered to the Mexico-based trafficker, ICE stated.
Authorities learned Vargas was the son of Arnoldo Vargas Estrada, the former mayor of Zacapa, Guatemala. Estrada was convicted by a jury in the Eastern District of New York of five counts related to the importation of narcotics.
He was sentenced to a year in custody and was one of the first Guatemalan drug traffickers to be extradited to the U.S. in the 1990s, ICE stated. He returned to his home country in 2017 and was reelected as mayor of Zacapa, a position he held until 2024.
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