A Colombian businessman has been found guilty by a federal jury in Miami, charged with conspiracy to traffic a large quantity of drugs into the United States. Neder Valencia Julio, who ran multiple businesses in Colombia, was convicted of orchestrating a sophisticated operation that involved distributing thousands of kilograms of cocaine, knowing it would make its way to U.S. soil, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida announced.
Valencia's businesses, which included a resort hotel, apartment complex, and a fleet of speedboats, were strategically placed along the coastal gulf of Colombia near the Caribbean Sea in a territory controlled by the notorious Clan del Golfo (CDG). The criminal group, identified as a paramilitary organization and a racketeering enterprise, imposed a per-kilogram tax on traffickers using their routes, and provided additional services like storage and security for the illicit cargo, investigations revealed Valencia's integral role involved coordinating logistically complex drug shipments using his business assets to facilitate the transport and distribution of significant amounts of CDG cocaine.
In a high-profile incident that unfolded in May 2018, a Colombian military aircraft tracked a speedboat from Valencia's fleet darting towards Panamanian waters loaded with over a ton of cocaine; under pursuit by Panama's SENAN, the crew discarded the narcotics before retreating back to Colombia. SENAN recovered 626 kilograms of cocaine, with one of the cocaine brick stamps linking the drugs to the CDG. U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal presided over the proceedings, and sentencing for Valencia is set for September 23, where he could face life in prison, according to official sources.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) with extensive support from Colombian and Panamanian authorities, including the Fiscalía General de la Nación, the Colombian Navy, and SENAN, substantial assistance in the matter was provided by the Justice Department's Office of International Affairs and the Criminal Division's Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section in Bogotá, the Justice Department reported. U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne, representative for the Southern District of Florida, and Special Agent in Charge Deanne Reuter, heading the DEA Miami Field Division, formally announced the verdict while Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marc Chattah and Sterling M. Paulson are prosecuting the ongoing case.
Further legal documents and case-related information are available to the public on the Southern District of Florida's district court website or through PACER, under case number 21-CR-20273-AHS.
