BOSTON — A Colombian, who was extradited from Colombia after being charged, was convicted today in federal court in Boston for his role in an international drug trafficking organization.

Henry Carrillo-Ramirez, 52, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young to 15 years in prison and five years on probation. In November 2019, Carrillo-Ramirez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine on board a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, and to four counts of possession with intent to distribute and distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine on board a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Carrillo-Ramirez was indicted in April 2017 and extradited from Colombia in April 2019.

Since 2013, Carrillo-Ramirez and at least four co-conspirators have been implicated in a conspiracy that trafficked thousands of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia by ship via Venezuela to Spain, Puerto Rico and other countries. other places. The cocaine came from the Catatumbo region of Colombia and was transported to Isla Margarita, Venezuela. Subsequently – based on an agreed date, time, sea coordinates and code word – small motorboats carrying the cocaine would encounter an offshore fishing boat on which the cocaine was transferred and transported to points in Europe and the Caribbean. Carrillo-Ramirez played an indispensable role in the plot—arranging cocaine shipments and transport from Colombia to Venezuela, managing logistics, providing coordinates at sea, and serving as the conspiracy’s communications hub.

It is estimated that Carrillo-Ramirez and his co-conspirators successfully shipped approximately 1,200 kilograms of cocaine to Spain in June 2014. In total, law enforcement seized at least 2,235 kilograms of cocaine from the plot. Carrillo-Ramirez drug dealing.

In August 2014, an international law enforcement operation located and boarded a vessel traveling from South America to Spain and seized 960 kilograms of cocaine. In November 2014, an allied British ship carrying US Coast Guard officials interdicted a boat organized by Carrillo-Ramirez and others bound for Puerto Rico which was about 30 nautical miles west of Montseratt. Once the ship was stopped, the crew was observed tossing balls of cocaine, which were recovered and weighed 180 kilograms. The remaining bullets were lost at sea. In December 2014, the Spanish Guardia Civil boarded another vessel in international waters organized by Carrillo-Ramirez and others and seized an additional 728 kilos of cocaine. In August 2015, US investigators disabled a Yamaha motorboat in the Farjardo coastal region of Puerto Rico, organized by Carrillo and others. A search of the nearby area yielded 13 bullets containing nearly 400 kilograms of cocaine.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins and Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Division, made the announcement. The Office of International Affairs of the Ministry of Justice and legal attaches from the Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Section (NDDS) of the Criminal Division in Bogotá, Colombia, worked with law enforcement partners in Colombia to secure the arrest and extradition of Carrillo-Ramirez to the United States. Valuable assistance was provided by the Colombian National Police, the Spanish Guardia Civil and the Portuguese Air Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Estes of Rollins’ Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case.