Source: Office of United States Attorneys
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Four Mexican nationals and two Ecuadoran nationals have been sentenced for possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
According to court documents, on Feb. 24, 2024, while on routine patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, a helicopter from the Coast Guard Cutter Munro detected a go-fast vessel (GFV) with no identifying markings of nationality approximately 450 nautical miles southwest of Acapulco, Mexico, in international waters. The Munro was patrolling in the vicinity and diverted to intercept. A long-range interceptor small boat was launched and navigated to the last known position of the GFV.
The helicopter observed the GFV jettison a fuel barrel and used warning shots to halt the boat. The LRI arrived and a boarding team took control of the GFV.
The team encountered six individuals aboard the GFV, identified as Rudi Euriel Santos Bernal, Juan Manuel Gastelum Valenzuela, Ronny Rosado Alvarez, Juan Ramon Vega Cardenas, Manuel Rodrigo Otero Rivera, and Kennedy Samuel Rivera Flores. None of the individuals made a claim of nationality for the vessel. Permission was granted to treat the vessel as “without nationality,” and a full law enforcement boarding was conducted. The boarding team safely located and then transferred to the cutter all contraband, which included 38 bales of cocaine for an estimated at-sea weight of 1,790 kilograms.
Gastelum Valenzuela pled guilty on Aug. 19, 2024, and was sentenced on Dec. 18, 2024, to two years in prison.
Rosado Alvarez and Rivera Flores pled guilty on August 20, 2024, and was sentenced on Dec. 18, 2024, to two years in prison. On Dec. 19, 2024, Rivera Flores was sentenced to two years in prison. On Dec. 18, 2024, Rosado Alvares was sentenced to two years in prison.
Otero Rivera and Vega Cardenas pled guilty on July 29, 2024. Otero Rivera was sentenced on Dec. 11, 2024, to two years in prison. Vega Cardenas was sentenced on Jan. 21 to two years and three months in prison.
Santos Bernal pled guilty on Sept. 18, 2024, and was sentenced on Jan. 21 to two years in prison.
Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Ibrar A. Mian, Acting Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Division; and Kai Wah Chan, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C., made the announcement.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric M. Hurt and Kevin M. Comstock prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:24-cr-15.