COLOMBIAN NARCOTICS TRAFFICKER SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS INT PRISON

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 

Monday, August 5, 2013
Major Colombian Narcotics Trafficker Sentenced in Washington, D.C., to 25 Years in Prison for Drug Trafficking

Christian Fernando Borda, a major narcotics trafficker aligned with paramilitary groups in Colombia, was sentenced today to serve 25 years in prison for conspiring to import ton-quantities of cocaine into the United States, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Administrator Michele M. Leonhart of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Borda, 49, aka “Tony,” was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler in the District of Columbia.  Borda’s sentence included a mandatory minimum prison term of 20 years due to his 1998 conviction in the Southern District of Florida for possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.  In addition to his prison term, Borda was sentenced to serve 10 years of supervised release and ordered to pay a fine of $6.5 million.

“Christian Borda will spend 25 years in prison for leading a massive international drug trafficking operation that conspired to move vast quantities of cocaine into the United States,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman.  “The substantial prison term secured against Borda would not have been possible without the extensive cooperation between law enforcement in the U.S. and abroad, and it demonstrates our commitment to holding drug traffickers accountable for their crimes.”

“Our relentless pursuit of justice alongside our Colombian partners has ensured Christian Fernando Borda will be punished for his criminal activities,” said DEA Administrator Leonhart. “For years, Borda operated a massive drug trafficking and money laundering enterprise, which facilitated the AUC’s terrorist activities.  This successful investigation demonstrates the strong will and skill of the United States and Colombian governments to rid the world of the most dangerous and ruthless drug traffickers and facilitators.”

Following a trial that lasted almost seven weeks, Borda was convicted by a federal jury on Dec. 9, 2010, of one count of conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, knowing and intending that the substances would be unlawfully imported into the United States.

Borda, a Colombian national, led a major international narcotics trafficking organization based in Colombia that transported ton-quantities of cocaine from Colombia to the United States and elsewhere via Mexico.  As the leader of this drug trafficking group, Borda obtained large amounts of cocaine from Colombian sources and directed others who took part in the drug trafficking activities.  One of their shipments of cocaine in 2005 involved approximately 1,500 kilograms that were smuggled in a containerized shipment of drums of palm oil on a vessel departing from the north coast of Colombia.

The evidence further showed that Borda conspired with others to distribute tons of cocaine in Colombia, Mexico and elsewhere, with the knowledge and intent that the cocaine would be imported into the United States.

Borda was one of seven defendants charged with drug trafficking offenses in an indictment filed on March 16, 2007.  He was extradited to the United States from Colombia in October 2009 and was ordered detained in federal custody pending trial.

Borda’s co-defendant, Alvaro Alvaran-Velez, is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 3, 2013, before U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler in the District of Columbia.

The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Paul W. Laymon and Robert J. Raymond of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, and Charles D. Griffith Jr., now of the Criminal Division’s Office of Enforcement Operations.  The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in the provisional arrest and extradition of Borda, and the Criminal Division’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section provided assistance at sentencing.  The investigation in this case was initiated by the DEA Miami Field Division in approximately 2004.  The DEA Houston Field Division conducted a related investigation.  Both investigations were conducted with assistance by the DEA's county offices in Cartagena and Bogota, Colombia, Mexico City and Guadalajara, Mexico.  The U.S. Coast Guard provided valuable investigative assistance.  The investigation also involved unprecedented cooperation from the Colombian National Police and the Colombian Fiscalia.

FORMER COLOMBIAN PROSECUTOR PLEADS GUILTY TO ROLE IN DRUG TRAFFICKING

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Monday, October 15, 2012
Former Colombian Prosecutor Pleads Guilty to Role in International Drug Trafficking Conspiracy

WASHINGTON – A former Colombian prosecutor pleaded guilty today to providing law enforcement information to drug traffickers as part of a conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Mark R. Trouville of the Miami Field Division.

Ramiro Anturi Larrahondo, 55, a Colombian national, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge John D. Bates in the District of Columbia to one count of conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, knowing and intending that the cocaine would be illegally imported into the United States. The plea agreement is subject to court approval.

Anturi Larrahondo is the first Colombian prosecutor ever to be extradited to the United States.

"Ramiro Anturi Larrahondo used his position as a Colombian prosecutor to leak sensitive law enforcement intelligence to large-scale drug traffickers in exchange for his own personal enrichment," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer. "Anturi Larrahondo undermined international law enforcement operations and betrayed the trust placed in him by the Colombian government. As the first case ever in which a Colombian prosecutor is being extradited to the United States, this matter shows how dogged we are in our pursuit of narcotics traffickers and how determined we are to hold accountable those smuggling drugs into this country."

"The DEA will not tolerate any acts that put our agents’ lives in jeopardy," said DEA Special Agent in Charge Trouville. "Mr. Anturi Larrahondo will now face the consequences of his criminal conduct to assist drug traffickers."

Anturi Larrahondo was indicted by a federal grand jury on Jan. 26, 2010, in the District of Columbia. According to court documents, in 2009, while serving as a Colombian prosecutor, Anturi Larrahondo provided sensitive law enforcement investigative information to a major Colombian maritime drug trafficking organization.

According to Anturi Larrahondo’s plea agreement, the drug trafficking organization Anturi Larrahondo conspired with was responsible for transporting cocaine by go-fast vessels from the port city of Buenaventura, Colombia, to Central America, with the ultimate destination being the United States. During the investigation, Colombian judicial wire intercepts recorded Anturi Larrahondo speaking to representatives of the drug trafficking organization and a DEA cooperating source regarding financial payments to Anturi Larrahondo, delivery of documents to the drug trafficking organization and the coordination of meetings between Anturi Larrahondo and representatives of the drug trafficking organization.

As part of his plea agreement, Anturi Larrahondo admitted he received regular monthly payments from the Colombian drug trafficking organization in order for the drug traffickers to find out what, if any, criminal investigation the governments of Colombia or the United States were conducting against the drug traffickers. Anturi Larrahondo further admitted that he received the corrupt payments in order to protect the drug trafficking organization from law enforcement. Members of the Colombian drug trafficking organization made regular monthly cash payments to Anturi Larrahondo of 21 million pesos, the equivalent of approximately $10,000 in U.S. currency.

Anturi Larrahondo’s sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Nov. 26, 2012.

This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Mark Maldonado, Stephen May and Stephen Sola of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, with significant assistance from the section’s judicial attaches in Bogota, Colombia, the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs and the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Colombia. The case was investigated by DEA’s Bogota Country Office and the Miami Field Division, in coordination with the Judicial Police of the Prosecutor General’s Office in Colombia and the Colombian National Police.