Daniel J. Gould, 36, of Crestview, and Henry W. Royer, 36, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, are headed to federal prison for 9 years each after being convicted in a high-stakes international cocaine importation conspiracy. Both former members of the U.S. Army, Gould and Royer exploited their military connections to smuggle massive quantities of cocaine into the Northern District of Florida, using U.S. military transport flights as their personal drug pipeline.
Gould, a former Master Sergeant, and Royer, who served in both the U.S. Army and Army National Guard, admitted to orchestrating a scheme between January and August 2018 that saw them import first 10 kilograms, then 40 kilograms of cocaine from Colombia. Their method was brazen: hollowing out punching bags, stuffing them with cocaine, and shipping the contraband aboard U.S. military aircraft. The first batch arrived at Duke Field, an auxiliary of Eglin Air Force Base, where the duo distributed the drugs across Northwest Florida.
The operation unraveled in August 2018 when the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration received a tip about the 40-kilogram shipment. U.S. Embassy officials in Colombia intercepted the package during an X-ray screening, discovering the cocaine concealed in the modified sports gear. By then, Gould had already returned to Florida, waiting for the illicit cargo to clear international transit. The shipment, valued at over $1 million on the street, never made it past the embassy.
Before the bust, the conspirators had already cycled profits from the first 10-kilogram run into the larger second load. Royer personally traveled to Colombia with U.S. currency to pay suppliers, while Gould arranged the logistics, including wiring $65,000 in cash back to Colombia aboard a military cargo plane to fund future buys. Their ambition outpaced their caution, turning a calculated operation into a fatal miscalculation.
Gould pleaded guilty in December 2018; Royer followed in February 2019. A third suspect, Gustavo A. Pareja, 25, of Colombia, remains in custody abroad and is awaiting extradition to face trial in Pensacola. Federal prosecutors, led by Senior Litigation Counsel David L. Goldberg, called the case a stunning breach of military trust and national security.
The investigation was conducted by the DEA and the Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task force. Lawrence Keefe, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, emphasized the severity of former service members weaponizing their access for profit. ‘This wasn’t just drug trafficking,’ Keefe stated. ‘It was a betrayal of oath, uniform, and country.’
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Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
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