Five Caribbean-Based Narco-Traffickers Indicted
Caribbean Basin Initiative Results in Indictment and Arrest
SAN JUAN, PR. - - Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Javier F. Peña, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Caribbean Division, announced the unsealing of a July 12, 2011 indictment in the Southern District of Florida against Carlos Ruben Morales-Davila, 38, Miguel Angel Espinal-Herrera, 38, Freddy Antonio Martinez, 52, Roberto A. Mendoza-Manzana, 34, and Felix Evangelista Sanchez-Espinal, 45, all Dominican nationals, charging them with conspiring to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine knowing that the cocaine would be imported in the United States and conspiring to import five kilograms or more of cocaine into the United States from the Dominican Republic, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 963.
On November 14, 2011, the Puerto Rican Police Department, Maritime Unit, arrested Morales-Davila as he disembarked a recreational fishing vessel inbound from Vieques . The four remaining defendants are incarcerated in the Dominican Republic awaiting extradition to the United States. If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
This indictment and arrest is part of the ongoing efforts of the United States Attorney’s Office for Southern District of Florida Caribbean Basin Initiative. The Initiative focuses on pro-actively identifying, investigating, and prosecuting narco-traffickers that use the Caribbean Basin to transship narcotics to the United States. The goal of the Initiative is to combat and deter any future surge in drug trafficking through the Caribbean Basin.
U.S. Attorney Ferrer commended the outstanding investigative efforts of DEA’s Caribbean Division and the Puerto Rican Police Department, Maritime Unit, for their efforts in locating and arresting Morales-Davila. The prosecution of these individuals is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Davis.
