Four South American nationals are facing federal drug charges after a high-speed maritime chase ended in the seizure of 1,535 kilograms of cocaine—worth tens of millions on the street—off the Pacific coast. Freddy Montano Paz, 29, Calixto Tumbaco, 41, Mariano Abregon, 42, and Hector Hernandez, 48, were captured aboard a go-fast vessel loaded with narcotics, U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced.
The crew was intercepted on May 10, 2019, roughly 250 nautical miles northwest of Esmeraldas, Ecuador, by a United States Coast Guard cutter during a routine patrol. The vessel had no markings indicating its nationality, raising immediate red flags. When spotted, the suspects—two Colombian nationals, one Ecuadorian, and one Mexican—began heaving bales of suspected drugs into the ocean in a desperate bid to destroy evidence.
Coast Guard personnel disabled the vessel and boarded it moments later. They recovered 40 bales of a white powdery substance, including bundles retrieved from the water. Field tests confirmed the cargo as cocaine. The total haul, weighing in at 1,535 kilograms, represents one of the larger maritime drug seizures in recent years in the Eastern Pacific corridor.
The defendants are charged with Conspiracy to Possess and Possession of a Controlled Substance on Board a Vessel Subject to the Jurisdiction of the United States. If convicted, they face severe mandatory minimum sentences under federal law, with potential decades behind bars in a U.S. federal prison.
The investigation was conducted jointly by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant United States Attorney Delia L. Smith is leading the prosecution. Evidence gathered includes GPS data, vessel forensics, and witness testimony from boarding team members who described the suspects’ panic as the cutter closed in.
U.S. Attorney Shappert emphasized that while the charges are serious, an indictment is not evidence of guilt. Freddy Montano Paz, Calixto Tumbaco, Mariano Abregon, and Hector Hernandez are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The case continues to advance through the federal system based in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.
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Key Facts
- State: Virgin Islands
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
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