Colombian national pleads guilty to producing and trafficking over 1,400 kilograms of cocaine

TAMPA, Fla. — An Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative Panama Express (PANEX) Strike Force investigation has led to a guilty plea to conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute 5 or more kilograms of cocaine on a vessel subject to United States jurisdiction.

Juan Carlos Perlaza Caicedo aka Olindo Perlaza Caicedo aka Gafas, 45, of Colombia pleaded guilty to producing and transporting several tons of cocaine from Colombia to Central America beginning in at least 2002. He faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years and up to life in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

Perlaza Caicedo was arrested in Tumaco, Colombia, on May 4, 2019, pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant. He was extradited to the United States on Nov. 22, 2023.

According to the plea agreement, in addition production and transportation logistics, Perlaza Caicedo managed and operated cocaine production laboratories in Colombia, where he manufactured large amounts of cocaine on a per-order basis. Further, he coordinated multiple maritime cocaine transportation trips, including recruitment and payment of mariners and determination of maritime routes to avoid law enforcement.

The cocaine Perlaza Caicedo produced was ultimately destined for importation to the United States. In August 2011, March 2012 and September 2014, the U.S. Coast Guard interdicted drug smuggling vessels associated with Perlaza Caicedo’s efforts. During those three interdictions alone, Perlaza Caicedo played a role in conspiring to transport at least 1,422 kilograms of cocaine. Following his arrest in Colombia, Perlaza Caicedo admitted his involvement in cocaine smuggling along the Pacific coast of South and Central America.

This prosecution is part of an OCDETF Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multijurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations.

The specific mission of the OCDETF PANEX is to disrupt and dismantle transnational criminal organizations involved in large scale drug trafficking, money laundering and related activities. The OCDETF PANEX comprises agents and officers from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, and the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section’s Judicial Attaché's Office at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, the U.S. Marshals Service, and Colombian law enforcement authorities, which provided significant assistance in securing Perlaza Caicedo’s arrest and extradition from Colombia.

The prosecution is being led by the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. It is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Krebs.

HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move. HSI’s workforce of more than 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’ largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.

Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE.gov)