CHRISTIANSTED — A British Virgin Islands resident was given nearly five years in prison for smuggling $20 million worth of cocaine into St. Croix
Augusto Rodriguez-Molina, 37, a native of the Dominican Republic, was sentenced to 57 months incarceration after his conviction on conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, U.S. Attorney Delia L. Smith said.
U.S. District Judge Wilma A. Lewis also ordered Rodriguez-Molina, a resident of Road Town, Tortola, to serve two years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Smith added.
According to court documents, on January 9, 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and
Marine Operations intercepted a suspicious vessel traveling northeast of St. Croix.
The suspicious vessel was operating in international waters in an area known by law enforcement for drug trafficking and displayed no indicia of nationality, no flag, no registration documents.
The vessel was therefore determined to be a vessel without nationality, thus subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
Rodriguez-Molina, Shannon John, Sean John and Emmanuel Tolentino-Lebron, all of the British Virgin Islands, and 567 kilograms of cocaine were discovered onboard the vessel.
All four men pleaded guilty to cocaine conspiracy and were sentence to 57-70 months of incarceration.
This case was investigated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations (CBP-AMO) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rhonda Williams-Henry.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces
(OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal
organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multiagency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at:
https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.