Erix Manuel Rodríguez-López, Cocaine Trafficking, Puerto Rico 2018

Three individuals, Erix Manuel Rodríguez-López, Juan Carlos Castillo-Vasquez, and José Nicolas Auitian-Bohorquez, have been charged with conspiracy to possess a controlled substance on board a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

The defendants are accused of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute five (5) kilograms or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine, a Schedule II controlled substance, on board a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. The value of the cocaine is estimated to be over $15 million.

The interdiction was the result of ongoing, multi-agency federal law enforcement efforts in support of Operation Unified Resolve, Operation Caribbean Guard, and the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force (CCSF).

On March 1, 2018, the crew of a patrolling CBP maritime patrol aircraft from the Caribbean Air and Marine Branch (CAMB) detected a suspicious 30-foot go-fast vessel with visible packages on deck transiting without navigational lights, approximately 50 nautical miles south of Ponce, Puerto Rico.

The United States Coast Guard (USCG) Cutter Horsley conducted the interdiction of the suspicious 30-foot long fast boat. Upon boarding the vessel, USCG found the defendants in possession of 30 bales containing approximately 900 kilograms of cocaine.

The three individuals were detained by USCG and turned over to FBI agents from the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force (CCSF) for processing, along with the seized narcotics.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is in charge of the investigation along with agents from the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force (CCSF), with the collaboration of the United States Coast Guard (USCG), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO), CBP Air and Marine Operations (CBP AMO), CBP United States Border Patrol (CBP USBP), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and PR Joint Forces of Rapid Action (FURA).

Special Assistant US Attorney Sean Gajewski is in charge of the prosecution of the case, under the supervision of Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia Díaz-Rex, Deputy Chief of the International Narcotics Unit. If convicted, the defendants face a minimum sentence of 10 years, and up to life in prison.