Omar Olmedo Paredes, Cocaine Distribution, Florida 2022

Tampa, Florida – In a major blow to transnational cocaine trafficking, Colombian national Omar Olmedo Paredes (55, Cocal Payan, Colombia) has been sentenced to 17 years and 6 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine while on board a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven after Omar Olmedo Paredes pleaded guilty on March 31, 2022 to his role in dispatching vessels carrying cocaine intended for distribution in the United States.

According to court documents, on June 17, 2015, and March 5, 2016, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) interdicted vessels in international waters. Each vessel was carrying over 500 kilograms of cocaine, and the USCG seized over 1,100 kilograms of cocaine from the two vessels. Crewmembers on both vessels stated that Omar Olmedo Paredes was one of the individuals in charge of dispatching the vessels from a small inlet in Cocal Payan, Colombia.

Omar Olmedo Paredes hired mariners, put crewmembers in contact with other coconspirators in Colombia, had mariners stay at his house awaiting the launch of the vessels, provided engines for the vessels, gave orders, and resolved issues that arose. Omar Olmedo Paredes and another individual brought the bales of cocaine to the launch site and counted them or instructed mariners to count them. Before dispatching the drug-laden vessels, Omar Olmedo Paredes provided a captain with instructions and coordinates and dispatched surveillance vessels. The conspirators intended the cocaine to be distributed in the United States.

Omar Olmedo Paredes was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2018, arrested in Colombia in 2019, and extradited to the United States for prosecution in 2021.

The 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.

Omar Olmedo Paredes was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael C. Sinacore.

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