News
Release
For Immediate Release
July
22, 2010
Colombian
President Approves Extradition of Five
Colombian Citizens To Boston To Face International
Cocaine Trafficking Charges
JUL
22 -- (Boston, Mass.) - The first
five defendants in a multi-defendant international
cocaine trafficking conspiracy arrived
in Boston late last night to face federal
charges. The defendants arrived in Boston,
after being approved for extradition by
the Colombian President, and transferred
from Colombian to U.S. custody at an airport
in Bogota, Colombia.
United
States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, Steven M.
Derr, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Drug
Enforcement Administration - Boston Field
Office, Susan M. Dukes, Special Agent-in-Charge
of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal
Investigation Division - Boston Field Office
and John Gibbons, United States Marshal for
the District of Massachusetts, announced
today that a federal grand jury in the District
of Massachusetts returned an indictment charging:
(1) LEYVAN ALVAREZ-BASTIDAS ,
39, a/k/a “Ivan,” (2) HECTOR
JAVIER CASTROMEZA, 47, a/k/a “Pepe,” (3) LUIS
ALBERTO ZAPATA-SANCHEZ, 43, a/k/a “El
Negro,” (4) GUSTAVO CASTRO-CAICEDO,
50, a/k/a “Luis Amaro,” (5) FIDEL
ALBERTO RUALES-VALLEJO , 36, a/k/a “Cui,” (6) MAY
ADOLFO MORCILLO-MOLINA, 29, a/k/a “May,” (7) BERNARDO
ALBERTO MERINO-CUARAN, 27, a/k/a “Gaviota,” and
(8) ALEX CASTRO-CORTES ,
34, a/k/a “Alex,” a/k/a “Ali” with
conspiracy to import five kilograms or more
of cocaine into the U.S. from Colombia, and
manufacture and distribute cocaine in Colombia,
knowing that it would be unlawfully imported
into the U.S.
The
following five individuals arrived in Boston
late last night from Colombia: ALVAREZ-BASTIDAS,
CASTRO-MEZA, CASTRO-CAICEDO, RUALES-VALLEJO,
MORCILLO-MOLINA and will appear
in District Court in Boston later today.
The remaining three defendants are in Colombian
custody, awaiting extradition to the United
States.
United
States Attorney Ortiz said, “The extradition
of these defendants is the result of extraordinary
collaboration and cooperation that crossed
national and international borders. I want
to commend the DEA and Colombia’s Administrative
Department of Security on their outstanding
investigation and unprecedented cooperation.”
“I
also want to acknowledge and thank the Colombian
government for their support and assistance
in this matter,” she said. “These
extraditions should send a strong message
to international drug traffickers, that we
will continue to work with our international
partners to stem the flow of drugs being
smuggled into the United States.”
According
to affidavits filed with the court in support
of extradition and detention, the charges
in this case – which has been dubbed “Operation
Bean Pot” – resulted from a years-long
international undercover operation which
began in Boston in 2005. The U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) ultimately coordinated
numerous undercover operations across the
world, transferred millions of dollars, at
times using the Black Market Peso Exchange
in Colombia, in order to identify and prosecute
criminal organizations like those led by ALVAREZBASTIDAS,
and seized over $9 million during undercover
operations in North America, South America,
Europe and the Caribbean.
The
affidavits also allege that, based on investigative
leads developed by the DEA from a money pick-up
in the Bahamas in March 2007, Colombia’s
Administrative Department of Security (DAS)
obtained judicial authorization to intercept
conversations on several Colombian cellular
phones. It is alleged that, as a direct result
of those interceptions Colombian authorities
had seized more than 2,900 kilograms of cocaine
in Colombia, most of which was the property
of the ALVAREZ-BASTIDAS drug
trafficking organization. Based on defendant CASTROMEZA’s estimate
of $35,000 per kilogram of cocaine in the
U.S., the seizures from the ALVAREZ-BASTIDAS organization
amount to more than $100 million of cocaine.
According
to the extradition affidavit, ALVAREZ-BASTIDAS is
alleged to be the leader of a large Colombian
drug trafficking organization that imports
cocaine into the U.S. by using Filipino merchant
marines working on commercial container ships. CASTRO-MEZA, CASTRO-CAICEDO and CASTRO-CORTES are
allegedly lieutenants for ALVAREZBASTIDAS,
each of whom is responsible for arranging
transportation of ALVAREZBASTIDAS’s cocaine
out of Colombia. According to the extradition
affidavit, CASTROMEZA allegedly
instructed Filipino merchant marines to transport
cocaine from Colombia to New Orleans, Louisiana
and also told a confidential source that
s/he could make $3,500 for every kilogram
of cocaine that s/he transported to the U.S.
on behalf of ALVAREZBASTIDAS’s organization.
It
is alleged that ZAPATA-SANCHEZ controls
land routes in Colombia over which ALVAREZ-BASTIDAS’s cocaine
must pass when transported from the lab to
the port in Colombia, Buenaventura, from
where it is then exported. Therefore, ALVAREZ-BASTIDAS needs ZAPATA-SANCHEZ’s permission
before transporting cocaine shipments over
these land routes. According to the affidavit, MERINO-CUARAN allegedly
operates the laboratory that supplies ALVAREZ-BASTIDAS with
cocaine, and is assisted by MORCILLO-MOLINA. RUALES-VALLEJO also
allegedly works closely with ALVAREZ-BASTIDAS to
coordinate large cocaine shipments.
All
of the defendants have been intercepted on
judicially authorized-wiretaps in Colombia
in direct communication with each other regarding
specific details of the organization’s
cocaine trafficking and distribution.
“International
borders offer no security to drug traffickers
who seek to flood our communities with tons
of cocaine and launder the proceeds as alleged
in this indictment. Traffickers will not
escape the grasp of law enforcement professionals
who have dedicated themselves to putting
these criminal groups out of business,” said
DEA Special Agent-in-Charge Derr. “Operation
Bean Pot is a great example of a cooperative
effort that spanned the globe. These extraditions
would not have been possible without the
hard work of the Colombian authorities, United
States Attorney’s Office for the District
of Massachusetts, Internal Revenue Service
and our local law enforcement partners.”
Susan
Dukes, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Internal
Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation
stated, “IRS Criminal Investigation
plays a unique role in federal law enforcement's
counter-drug effort in that we target the
profit and financial gains of narcotics traffickers
which comprise a significant portion of the
untaxed underground economy. IRS-CI follows
the money trail to financially disrupt and
dismantle significant narcotics trafficking
organizations. We welcome the opportunity
to work these important investigations with
our law enforcement partners.”
This
case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration, the Internal Revenue Service’s
Criminal Investigation, Colombia’s
Administrative Department of Security, as
well as local and state police. The U.S.
Attorney’s Office would also like to
acknowledge and thank the U.S. Marshal’s
Service in the District of Massachusetts
for their assistance. It is being prosecuted
by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zachary R. Hafer
and George W. Vien of the U.S. Attorney’s
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.
The
defendants are presumed to be innocent unless
and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable
doubt in a court of law.
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