Miami-Dade County Resident and Haitian National Charged with Cocaine Trafficking in South Florida

Two individuals, a Miami-Dade County resident and a Haitian national, have been charged with cocaine trafficking in the Southern District of Florida.

Benjamin G. Greenberg, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Robert F. Lasky, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

            According to the Indictment, from at least as early as February 2016, and continuing through on or about March 2, 2017, Vincent Casseus, a/k/a “Angelo” 44, of Jérémie, Haiti, and Vito Antenor, 40, of Miami-Dade County, Florida, conspired to import and possess with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, and elsewhere.  The Indictment further alleges that Casseus and Antenor possessed with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine in Miami-Dade County, on November 6, 2016.   Casseus was extradited to the U.S.  Both Casseus and Antenor have appeared in U.S. Magistrate Court in Miami for their initial hearings related to this matter.  Casseus is scheduled to be arraigned on August 1, 2018.  Antenor’s detention hearing is scheduled for August 2, 2018 at 10:00 a.m.

            If convicted of the conspiracy counts alleged in the Indictment, the defendants face a statutory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, and a maximum of life.  If convicted of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, the defendants face a statutory minimum of 5 years, and a maximum term of 40 years in prison.

            This investigation and prosecution was carried out by members of the South Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force.  The South Florida HIDTA, established in 1990, is made up of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies who, cooperatively, target the region’s drug-trafficking and money laundering organizations.  The South Florida HIDTA is funded by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, which sponsors a variety of initiatives focused on the nation’s illicit drug trafficking threats.

This prosecution is a result of the ongoing efforts by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.  The OCDETF mission is to identify, investigate, and prosecute high-level members of drug trafficking enterprises, bringing together the combined expertise and unique abilities of federal, state and local law enforcement.

            Mr. Greenberg commends the investigative efforts of the FBI in this matter, with the assistance of Homeland Security Investigation, the Miami-Dade Police Department and Doral Police Department.  Mr.  Greenberg thanked the United States Embassy in Port au Prince, Haiti, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Country Attaché in Haiti, the U.S. Department of State and the Haitian National Police.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan K. Osborne.