Ronier Sanchez Alonso, Cocaine Trafficking, Connecticut 2016

A former pilot has been extradited from Paraguay and charged with cocaine trafficking conspiracy in federal court in Connecticut.

Ronier Sanchez Alonso, 46, a citizen of Mexico, has been detained since his arrest in Asuncion, Paraguay, on March 25, 2021.

According to court documents, Sanchez conspired with others to transport approximately 1700 kilograms of cocaine from South America to the U.S. On August 6, 2016, Sanchez and Rupert De Las Casas flew a private jet from the Dominican Republic to Venezuela where the cocaine was to be loaded onto the jet.

Sanchez is scheduled to be arraigned today at 2:30 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas O. Farrish in Hartford.

Sanchez has been charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine on board an aircraft registered in the U.S.

Sanchez is the latest defendant to be charged in a cocaine trafficking conspiracy that was uncovered by the Drug Enforcement Administration's New Haven Task Force, which includes members of the U.S. Marshals Service, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, Connecticut State Police and the New Haven, Hamden, West Haven, North Haven, East Haven, Branford, Ansonia, Meriden, Derby, Middletown, Naugatuck and Waterbury Police Departments.

De Las Casas, who last resided in Florida, pleaded guilty and is detained while awaiting sentencing. Another co-conspirator, Arrinson De La Cruz, who had worked at an airport in the Dominican Republic and helped to coordinate the travel of the jet through the airport uninterrupted, was charged separately for his role in this scheme and other drug trafficking activity.

U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ct/pr/pilot-charged-cocaine-trafficking-scheme-extradited-paraguay