Honduran Kingpin Arnulfo Fagot-Maximo Gets 33 Years for Cocaine Empire

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – For over a decade, Arnulfo Fagot-Maximo, 58, ran a high-octane cocaine pipeline from the jungle coastlines of Honduras to the streets of America. Today, the Honduran national was sentenced to 33 years in federal prison for leading a transnational drug trafficking organization responsible for smuggling thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the United States.

Court records reveal Fagot-Maximo operated out of the lawless La Mosquitia region in the Department of Gracias a Dios, Honduras—a remote coastal zone long exploited by traffickers. From there, he coordinated with Colombian suppliers who delivered massive shipments via “go fast” boats, small aircraft, and submersible vessels. Each delivery ranged from hundreds to several thousand kilograms of pure cocaine, forming a relentless flood of narcotics destined for U.S. consumption.

The operation functioned as a critical hub in the global drug trade. Fagot-Maximo funneled the cocaine to the Montes-Bobadilla organization in Francia, Honduras, where it was consolidated and moved overland through Guatemala before being handed off to Mexican cartels. These groups then smuggled the drugs across the southern U.S. border, fueling addiction and violence in communities nationwide. In return, Fagot-Maximo collected tens of millions of dollars in U.S. currency—dirty money that greased the wheels of his criminal empire.

The takedown was the result of a long-term investigation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) under Operation Harpoon, part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) program. Federal agents from DEA’s HIDTA Task Force in Annandale, Virginia, tracked financial flows, intercepted communications, and coordinated with international partners to dismantle the network from the shadows.

The case was announced by G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Brian A. Benczkowski, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division; Jesse R. Fong, DEA Washington Field Division; Nancy McNamara, FBI Washington Field Office; Raymond Villanueva, HSI Washington, D.C.; and Colonel Gary T. Settle, Virginia State Police. U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady handed down the sentence after a trial that laid bare the scale and brutality of the operation.

Support came from the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the Southern District of New York, Middle District of Florida, and Southern District of Florida, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard and the Honduran National Police. The prosecution was led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys James L. Trump, Thomas W. Traxler, and DOJ Trial Attorney Anthony Aminoff. Court documents are available in the Eastern District of Virginia under Case No. 1:15-cr-290.