A Colombian national pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine by illegally trafficking the drug into the U.S. through maritime shipments.
Dario Renteria-Garcia, 41 years-old of Colombia is now facing a lifetime in federal prison after organizing the illegal cocaine shipments into the country from 2010 to 2013 by recruiting mariners to help smuggle the drug.
Garcia, along with his hired mariners, on multiple occasions smuggled cocaine into the country from Colombia, where it had been produced.
The mariners involved in the illegal drug trafficking were subsequently interdicted by the U.S. Coast Guard in the eastern Pacific Ocean with over 1,000 kilograms of cocaine. The smugglers were turned over to prosecutors with the U.S. Department of Justice after being arrested by the Coast Guard.
Renteria-Garcia was arrested in Colombia and subsequently extradited to the U.S., first arriving at a place in the Middle District of Florida, where the case is now being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher F. Murray.
As Breitbart Texas reported last year, drug traffickers have taken to Florida for smuggling cocaine into the U.S. The Tampa, Orlando and West Palm Beach regions of the state are primarily controlled by the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel and the Beltran-Leyva Organization.
John Binder is a contributor for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.