A Colombian drug lord, Tito Aldemar Ruano Yandun, known by several aliases including "Don T," has been sentenced to 20 years in a U.S. federal prison for running an international cocaine distribution operation. The sentencing took place at the Brooklyn federal courthouse, with Judge William F. Kuntz, II imposing the sentence on Ruano Yandun, who had pleaded guilty back in March 2024, he also must forfeit $1.5 million in drug proceeds, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York.
United States Attorney Breon Peace stated that "Today’s sentence significantly punishes the defendant for leading a prolific drug trafficking organization that exported thousands of kilograms of cocaine destined for our streets," and that international drug kingpins must face justice for the harm they've done, Ruano Yandun's organization was a substantial supplier for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and it was the efforts of both U.S. DEA agents and Colombian authorities that led to the seizure of several thousand kilograms of cocaine linked to this network, the operation was sophisticated, working out of southwestern Colombia and Ecuador to transport massive quantities to Central and North America, as detailed by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The prosecution marked a collaborative triumph with appreciation extended to the Colombian National Police and the Government of Colombia by Mr. Peace; the case demonstrates the global nature of the drug trade and the lengths to which the U.S. will go to combat it, in November 2017, Ruano Yandun was designated under the Kingpin Act as a significant international narcotics trafficker by the Treasury’s OFAC.
Ruano Yandun, who was extradited in October 2023, saw his fate sealed as the end result of an ongoing Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) probe led by the Office and the DEA, according to the statement; the mission of the OCDETF program is to dismantle high-level drug trafficking and money laundering organizations, this extensive case was handled by the Office's International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew D. Wang helming the prosecution efforts.
