Guatemalan Pleads Guilty in Colombia-to-America Cocaine Conspiracy; Accused Extradited to Ohio in 2020

The Guatemalan man, who is the second extradited defendant in the Colombia-to-America cocaine conspiracy, pleaded guilty in the United States District Court to charges related to the scheme.

The 40-year-old man from Guatemala, Jose Luis DeLeon-Baltazar, was extradited to Columbus from Bogota, Colombia in March 2020.

According to justice.gov, which is the United States Department of Justice website, Jose Luis DeLeon-Baltazar pleaded guilty that he conspired and distributed at least five kilograms or more of cocaine on the high seas. It is a federal crime that is punishable by at least 10 years of imprisonment. DeLeon-Baltazar also admitted that he was part of numerous drug shipments to the U.S.

Moreover, DeLeon-Baltazar confessed as part of his plea that he conspired with others in shipping hundreds of kilograms of cocaine that were produced in Colombia. The 40-year-old Guatemalan then revealed that they were shipping it via sea and land through Central America and Mexico to cross the U.S.

DeLeon-Baltazar known as "Enano" in the drug trafficking scene was indicted in September 2018.

Based on the court documents, as part of the conspiracy, individuals would use what they call "load" coordinators to assist with the logistics of cocaine shipments. They also need to locate drivers and boat operators for narcotic-laden vehicles and vessels. Conspirators also secured the shared investments from multiple co-conspirators depending on specific cocaine shipments.

Aside from them, Fishermen and other commercial maritime laborers were allegedly recruited by conspirators to transport cocaine and others for purpose of refueling. Also, the conspirators allegedly paid taxes or fees if their cocaine shipment that needs to be delivered would go through areas controlled by a different cartel or drug trafficking organization.

Other Conspiracy Actors

In addition, the court documents also mentioned that members of the conspiracy allegedly shared information on the activities and locations of law enforcement and military personnel who were assigned to interdict narcotics shipments. It is the alleged co-conspirators who also sheltered individuals or members who were at risk of extradition to other countries.

They also set up Low-level co-conspirators to allegedly take responsibility for an entire load of seized cocaine to free higher-level members of the drug trafficking organization.

The court documents also revealed DeLeon-Baltazar's participation. The document stated that the 40-year-old Guatemalan received multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine transported on go-fast speed boats from Colombia into Guatemala. Once the cocaine arrived in Guatemala, DeLeon-Baltazar hid the cocaine in buildings in Tecun Uman, Guatemala until the cocaine was transported across Guatemala's northern border into Mexico.

However, on May 19, 2016, the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted the go-fast boat that they were using. During the interception, it contained 880 kilograms of cocaine and was intercepted approximately 400 miles south of Guatemala/Mexico. The said shipment was to be received by DeLeon-Baltazar in Guatemala which he supposed to store until it was to be transported to Mexico but it was seized.

Furthermore, there were additional cocaine shipments that were seized in the conspiracy. It includes the 720 kilograms of cocaine seized by the U.S. Coast Guard in the northwest of the Galapagos Islands on Aug. 18, 2017; and the 34 kilograms of cocaine seized by the Guatemalan Policia National Civil in San Marcos, Guatemala on or about Nov. 26, 2017.

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