Source: Office of United States Attorneys
St. Thomas, VI – United States Attorney Delia L. Smith announced today that Mario Montano Camacho, 41, and Juan Ignacio Reyes Delgado, 48, both of Ecuador, were each sentenced to 78 months of incarceration by Chief Judge Robert A. Molloy after pleading guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine While on Board a Vessel Subject to the Jurisdiction of the United States. A third defendant, Edison Quijije Cuzme, 35, also of Ecuador, was sentenced to 78 months earlier this month following his guilty plea to the same charge. All three defendants are subject to deportation after serving their prison sentences.
According to court documents, on December 22, 2023, while on routine patrol in the Eastern Pacific, the United States Coast Guard Cutter Resolute intercepted a go-fast vessel approximately 110 nautical miles west of Ecuador. The vessel was in international waters traveling at a high rate of speed with no flag being flown and displaying no indicia of nationality. Coast Guard officials further observed that, while pursuing the vessel, the occupants were throwing packages overboard. The go-fact vessel was subdued and treated as one without nationality after the Ecuadorian government could neither confirm nor deny its nationality. Several packages containing approximately 1,261 kilograms of cocaine were later recovered from the ocean.
This case was investigated by the United States Coast Guard and Drug Enforcement Administration and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Yasir Sadat. This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.