CHARLOTTE AMALIE — Three South Americans and one Central American were charged with smuggling 3,384 pounds of cocaine into the region, authorities said.
Freddy Montano Paz, 29, Calixto Tumbaco, 41, Mariano Abregon, 42, and Hector Hernandez, 48, were each charged with conspiracy to possess and possession of a controlled substance on board a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert said.
The complaint alleges that Montano Paz, Tumbaco, Abregon and Hernandez were all on board a go-fast style vessel that was intercepted by a United States Coast Guard (USCG) cutter while on routine patrol.
The USCG first sighted the go-fast vessel on May 10 about 250 nautical miles northwest of Esmeraldas, Ecuador.
The vessel did not have any display indicating its nationality. After being detected, the occupants, which consisted of two Columbian nationals, one Ecuadorian national, and one Mexican national, began tossing the bales of suspected narcotics overboard their vessel.
The USCG disabled the go-fast vessel, and upon boarding the vessel, successfully seized 40 bales of suspected narcotics, including the bales that were tossed overboard.
The 40 recovered bales contained approximately 1,535 kilograms (3,384.096 pounds) of a white powdery substance that field tested positive for cocaine, according to Shappert.
This case is being investigated by the USCG and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Delia Smith.
Shappert said that an indictment is merely a formal charging document and is not in and of itself evidence of guilt.
“Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless found guilty,” she said.
