Lelia Vanessa Perdomo Zapata, International Cocaine Smuggling, Florida 2019

Tampa, Florida - A Colombian woman has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for her role in an international cocaine smuggling operation.

Lelia Vanessa Perdomo Zapata, 26, was found guilty by a federal jury on September 3, 2019 and was sentenced to 15 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew.

Zapata was convicted of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with the intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine while onboard a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, possession with the intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine on that vessel, and perjury.

According to trial evidence, Zapata was the Colombian load guard for a Cartagena, Colombia-based cocaine smuggling crew and part of an international maritime drug smuggling operation involving at least 440 kilograms of cocaine, worth approximately $13 million.

Prior to their interdiction by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), Zapata and one of her co-conspirators were transporting 18 bales of cocaine onboard a 60-foot sailing vessel from Cartagena to Cancun, Mexico. Ultimately, USCG law enforcement officers from Tactical Law Enforcement Team (TACLET) Pacific boarded the sailing vessel and discovered the cocaine and multiple electronic devices consistent with cocaine trafficking. Subsequent analyses of these devices yielded crucial digital evidence of the cocaine smuggling operation.

During trial, Zapata testified under oath for nearly seven hours and made numerous statements that were demonstrably false.

This case was investigated by the Panama Express Strike Force, an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) comprised of agents and analysts from the United States Coast Guard Investigative Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and U.S. Southern Command's Joint Interagency Task Force South.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Diego F. Novaes and Special Assistant United States Attorney Nicholas DeRenzo.

Zapata's sentence brings an end to a complex case involving an international cocaine smuggling operation.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/colombian-female-sentenced-15-years-international-cocaine-smuggling-and-perjury