Colombian Brothers Sentenced To Federal Prison For International Drug Smuggling

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez-Covington has sentenced Alfredo Milan Caceres-Lopez (44, Colombia) to 20 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine while onboard a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. On June 12, 2019, his brother, and co-defendant, Juan Carlos Caceres-Lopez (50, Colombia) was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for his involvement in the conspiracy.

According to court documents, since at least 2013, Alfredo Milan Caceres-Lopez, with the assistance of his brother, planned, organized, and coordinated the smuggling of almost four tons of cocaine into the United States from the Guajira region of Colombia and Venezuela, through the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean Sea. Alfredo Milan Caceres-Lopez dispatched seven cocaine smuggling ventures, three of which were interdicted by the United States Coast Guard.

This case was investigated by the Panama Express Strike Force, an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) comprised of agents and analysts from Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Coast Guard Investigative Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration and 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 Assistant United States Attorney Diego F. Novaes.