Brooklyn feds seek to extradite 6 men from Colombia for scheme to smuggle cocaine on submersibles
NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn are looking to extradite six men arrested in Colombia for a scheme to smuggle tons of cocaine using semi-submersible 'narco sub' vessels.
The six suspects, who were indicted in November, were all arrested in Colombia on Wednesday, federal prosecutors announced.
The suspects led an international crew of drug smugglers who specialized in building self-propelled submersible vessels in remote parts of Colombia and South America, according to the feds.
They sought investors to finance multi-ton smuggling expeditions, hired workers and engineers to build their vessels, and scouted out routes in advance by sending out fishing boats to keep an eye out for authorities, the feds allege.
The drugs came from Colombia, and the vessels traveled to Central America and parts of Mexico controlled by the Sinaloa Cartel, the feds allege. The cocaine's ultimate destination was the U.S., prosecutors allege.
Investigators working for federal and international task forces caught wind of the plan through intercepted phone calls and other intel, and seized two vessels — one with more than 2,300 kilos, or 5,070 pounds, of cocaine on June 27, 2023, and the other with about 3,300 kilos, or about 7,275 pounds, on Oct. 7, 2023, the feds said.
The Colombian Navy announced last year it had seized 24 narco subs in 2023.
'With today's arrests, the defendants' conspiracy has been torpedoed. The United States will not tolerate the export and distribution of dangerous drugs into our homeland,' U.S. Attorney John Durham said Thursday.
The suspects face Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act and international cocaine distribution conspiracy charges, and face a mandatory minimum of 10 years behind bars, and a maximum of life if they're convicted.
The Brooklyn U.S. attorney's office has handled several high-profile international drug smuggling and cartel cases in recent years, winning guilty verdicts against Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman in 2019 and Genaro Garcia Luna, Mexico's former top cop, in a 2023 corruption trial.
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