News (Media Awareness Project) - US FL: Captain Of Decoy Boat Guilty On Drug Charges |
| Title: | US FL: Captain Of Decoy Boat Guilty On Drug Charges |
| Published On: | 2002-04-20 |
| Source: | Tampa Tribune (FL) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-08-30 17:57:11 |
CAPTAIN OF DECOY BOAT GUILTY ON DRUG CHARGES
Conspirator Faces 10-Year Sentence
TAMPA - A jury Friday convicted the captain of a decoy boat involved in
helping another boat smuggle 9 tons cocaine.
Luis Albeiro Lopez-Ramirez, 45, was convicted after a four-day trial in
U.S. District Court of conspiracy to import cocaine. He faces a mandatory
minimum of 10 years in prison when U.S. District Judge Susan Bucklew
sentences him July 19.
Prosecutors said Lopez- Ramirez was captain of the Barlovento II, a boat
acting as a lookout and decoy for the Recuerdo, a boat 30 miles away and
loaded with cocaine.
Acting partly on intelligence supplied by the Colombian navy, authorities
said, two Navy frigates picked up the Recuerdo on radar 800 miles off
Buenaventura, Colombia, and began shadowing it.
Then a Coast Guard team approached in small, inflatable boats and caught
the crew by surprise before dawn Aug. 3.
The cocaine found aboard the boat was worth $162 million, authorities said,
making the seizure the sixth-largest in U.S. history.
The cocaine - 350 bales of it stashed in hidden compartments - was
transferred from the Recuerdo to the U.S. frigates and taken, with the
crew, to Mayport Naval Station near Jacksonville.
Of the nine men aboard the Recuerdo, four have pleaded guilty to drug
charges and five go to trial May 20.
The Tampa-based investigation, known by the code name Operation Panama
Express, began two years ago after federal authorities struck a deal with
Jose Castrillon- Henao, allegedly a former Cali cartel kingpin.
Their goal is to topple Colombia's notorious Cali cartel.
Prosecutors won another conviction in another Operation Panama Express case
this week.
Jurors took less than 30 minutes to convict Wenceslao Cetre, 48, of
conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
Cetre was the captain of a ``go-fast'' boat transporting more than 2 tons
of cocaine from Colombia to Mexico.
He faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison.
The other men on Cetre's boat pleaded guilty to drug charges before trial.
Conspirator Faces 10-Year Sentence
TAMPA - A jury Friday convicted the captain of a decoy boat involved in
helping another boat smuggle 9 tons cocaine.
Luis Albeiro Lopez-Ramirez, 45, was convicted after a four-day trial in
U.S. District Court of conspiracy to import cocaine. He faces a mandatory
minimum of 10 years in prison when U.S. District Judge Susan Bucklew
sentences him July 19.
Prosecutors said Lopez- Ramirez was captain of the Barlovento II, a boat
acting as a lookout and decoy for the Recuerdo, a boat 30 miles away and
loaded with cocaine.
Acting partly on intelligence supplied by the Colombian navy, authorities
said, two Navy frigates picked up the Recuerdo on radar 800 miles off
Buenaventura, Colombia, and began shadowing it.
Then a Coast Guard team approached in small, inflatable boats and caught
the crew by surprise before dawn Aug. 3.
The cocaine found aboard the boat was worth $162 million, authorities said,
making the seizure the sixth-largest in U.S. history.
The cocaine - 350 bales of it stashed in hidden compartments - was
transferred from the Recuerdo to the U.S. frigates and taken, with the
crew, to Mayport Naval Station near Jacksonville.
Of the nine men aboard the Recuerdo, four have pleaded guilty to drug
charges and five go to trial May 20.
The Tampa-based investigation, known by the code name Operation Panama
Express, began two years ago after federal authorities struck a deal with
Jose Castrillon- Henao, allegedly a former Cali cartel kingpin.
Their goal is to topple Colombia's notorious Cali cartel.
Prosecutors won another conviction in another Operation Panama Express case
this week.
Jurors took less than 30 minutes to convict Wenceslao Cetre, 48, of
conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
Cetre was the captain of a ``go-fast'' boat transporting more than 2 tons
of cocaine from Colombia to Mexico.
He faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison.
The other men on Cetre's boat pleaded guilty to drug charges before trial.
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