Piero Antonio Lubo-Barros, Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine, Florida 2021

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge William Jung meted out a 17-year and 6-month sentence to Piero Antonio Lubo-Barros (52, Colombia), alias ‘Nostradamus,’ for conspiracy to distribute cocaine into the United States. The notorious criminal was apprehended in Costa Rica in 2021 and extradited to face justice.

According to sentencing testimony, Lubo-Barros directed a transnational conspiracy that distributed cocaine across Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, and directly into American cities like Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Texas. His activities included negotiating drug shipments, setting up new trafficking routes, and discussing methods to evade law enforcement.

In 2018, he attempted to distribute cocaine aboard the Island Princess cruise ship in Fort Lauderdale. The drugs carried identifying marks that were later found in seizures across New York, Pennsylvania, and Florida.

Lubo-Barros’s co-conspirator, Gerardo Gomez-Lubo, was also indicted and sentenced to 15 years for his role in the conspiracy. Special Agent in Charge J. Todd Scott of the DEA’s Louisville Division emphasized the agency’s unwavering commitment to justice: “Wherever you are in the world, the dedicated men and women of the DEA will find you and bring you to justice.”

This case was a testament to the DEA’s collaboration with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Assistant United States Attorney Diego F. Novaes, and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs. The investigation falls under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), which systematically targets and dismantles high-level criminal organizations. More information on OCDETF can be found at www.justice.gov/ocdetf.

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