On Thursday, the Justice Department announced that a Dominican Republic national has been sentenced to 13 years and one month in prison for his involvement in an international conspiracy to traffic over 2,000 pounds of cocaine into the United States.
According to the Justice Department, Lazaro Viton Rodriguez, a 55-year-old resident of the Dominican Republic, was involved in a drug trafficking network that operated between 2014 and May 2019. The network was based in the Dominican Republic and was responsible for transporting cocaine from South America to the United States through the Caribbean.
The drug trafficking network utilized sailing yachts and sport fishing boats to transport the cocaine, strategically making stops at different Caribbean ports along the way. This tactic aimed to create the illusion of legitimacy for each voyage, as revealed in court documents.
In November 2018, the Marine Interdiction Unit of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection intercepted the Casablanca vessel as it entered U.S. waters near Key Biscayne, Fla. The officers boarded the ship and conducted a thorough search, resulting in the seizure of over 327 kilograms of cocaine.
According to prosecutors, Rodriguez played a role in acquiring, registering, and upkeeping the vessels utilized by the drug trafficking network for the purpose of transporting cocaine.
According to a release from the department, he helped to register vessels using straw purchasers’ names, built hidden compartments on the boats to conceal the cocaine, and communicated with crew members via satellite phone as they traveled to various Caribbean locations to collect the drugs.
In November, Rodriguez admitted his guilt in taking part in a conspiracy to import five kilograms or more of cocaine into the United States.
The case was overseen by the New York office of Homeland Security Investigations.
