Fabian Humberto Tovar Caicedo, International Drug Trafficking, Virginia 2023

A former Colombian military intelligence official was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine for importation into the United States. Fabian Humberto Tovar Caicedo, 41, a sergeant in Colombian Army Intelligence, helped organize a drug trafficking organization that conspired to send multi-thousand-kilogram shipments of cocaine from Colombia to Mexico for eventual importation into the United States.

According to court documents, from August 2017 through April 2018, Tovar Caicedo helped organize the DTO, which planned to send multiple shipments, starting at 1,000 kilograms of cocaine, but moving up to as many as 10,000 kilograms of cocaine per shipment. A member of the DTO traveled to Mexico to negotiate the receipt of the cocaine with a corrupt, high-ranking Mexican military official.

Tovar Caicedo also offered various corrupt services to the DTO, including finding a corrupt member of the police in the Port of Santa Marta willing to facilitate the export of cocaine in exchange for payment. He suggested buying the same phones that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) uses for security and offered to use his military training to encrypt those phones for additional security. He also attempted to sell a list of DEA cooperators to the DTO.

One of Tovar Caicedo’s co-conspirators was Fabian Andres Leyton Vargas, a Colombian Air Force officer, whom the defendant met at a military training in the United States. Leyton Vargas used his position in the Colombian Ministry of Defense to identify and contact security and law enforcement officials in the Port of Santa Marta to be targeted for bribes.

The investigation targeted corruption in Colombia’s ports, leading to three indictments charging officials in the Colombian Army, Air Force, and National Police. Fabian Humberto Tovar Caicedo and his co-conspirators plotted to send multiple shipments of cocaine, with one shipment of 1,773 kilograms being seized by Colombian law enforcement on July 27, 2017, and another shipment of 2,081 kilograms being conspired on March 27, 2018 but also seized before it could depart the port.

As part of this multi-year investigation, a fifth defendant, Jose Maria Fragoso D’Acunti, admitted to using his former position in the Colombian National Police to identify and bribe security and law enforcement officials in the port of Cartagena, Colombia. Fragoso D’Acunti was sentenced to 12 years in prison along with Fabian Andres Leyton Vargas and Antonio Aldemar Avila Acevedo. Fragoso D’Acunti paid 1 billion Colombian Pesos, equivalent to more than $300,000 US Dollars, in bribe money to a port security officer.

U.S. law enforcement seized 516 kilograms of cocaine and 205 kilograms of cocaine sent by Fragoso D’Acunti’s DTO from Colombia that were destined for Belgium. The cocaine was comingled with pineapples and limes in shipping containers.

This case is a result of a multi-year investigation targeting corruption in Colombia’s ports. The defendants were charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine for importation into the United States.

MANDATORY FACTS:

Defendant: Fabian Humberto Tovar Caicedo

Criminal Charges: Conspiracy to distribute cocaine for importation into the United States

City and State: Alexandria, Virginia

Exact Date: April 2018

Sentence or Outcome: 12 years in prison

Dollar Amounts: None

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/colombian-military-intelligence-official-sentenced-role-international-drug-trafficking