United States Drug Enforcement Administration

MIAMI – An alleged member of a Guatemala-based drug trafficking organization has been extradited from Guatemala to the Southern District of Florida to face federal charges for his role in an international cocaine trafficking conspiracy spanning four countries.

According to court records, from 2012 through 2023, Mauro Ismael Morales Martinez, 51, also known as “Melito,” conspired with others to distribute cocaine as part of a drug trafficking organization operating in Colombia, Venezuela, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico. The conspiracy allegedly involved the distribution of five kilograms or more of cocaine intended for unlawful importation into the United States. 

Morales Martinez is charged with conspiring to distribute cocaine knowing or having reasonable cause to believe it would be unlawfully imported into the United States. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years and up to life in federal prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs secured Morales Martinez’s extradition from Guatemala. The Justice Department thanks the Guatemala’s Ministerio Público and Policía Nacional Civil for their assistance and coordination.

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida, and Special Agent in Charge Miles Aley of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division, made the announcement.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lynn Kirkpatrick is prosecuting the case.

This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Miami comprises agents and officers from ICE-Homeland Security Investigations; Federal Bureau of Investigation; Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Diplomatic Security Services; Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation; U.S. Marshals Service; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; U.S. Secret Service; U.S. Coast Guard; U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Services; U.S. Customs and Border Protection-Office of Field Operations; U.S Customs and Border Protection-U.S. Border Patrol; U.S. Customs and Border Protection-Air and Marine Operations; ICE-Enforcement and Removal Operations; South Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, and state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. 

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.