Guatemalan National Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Smuggle Over 6,000 Kilograms of Cocaine into the United States
TAMPA, Fla. – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced that Eliezer De Leon-Lopez (38, Guatemala), a/k/a “Wiro Loco” and “Daniel Martinez,” pleaded guilty today to conspiring to import cocaine into the United States. He faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
According to the plea agreement, Leon-Lopez was part of an organization that received cocaine in Guatemala that had been smuggled on maritime vessels from South America. The organization then brought the cocaine to shore, transported it to the northern border of Guatemala, and smuggled it into Mexico for subsequent importation into the United States. In 2017, Leon-Lopez retired from active smuggling by relinquishing his routes and South American contacts but continued to financially benefit from the smuggling operations.
On November 11, 2018, the El Salvadoran navy interdicted a self-propelled semi-submersible (SPSS) in international waters. There were five men – four Colombian nationals and one Guatemalan national – onboard. The SPSS was transporting approximately 6,380 kilograms of cocaine. Intercepted communications obtained in the United States revealed that Leon-Lopez was in communication with a coconspirator about the status of the SPSS and the crewmembers, and then received photos of the seized cocaine and an article on social media about the interdiction.
This case was investigated by the Panama Express Strike Force, a standing Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) comprised of agents and analysts from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the U.S. Southern Command's Joint Interagency Task Force South. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and those primarily responsible for the nation’s drug supply. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
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