TAMPA, Fla. – A Colombian man is facing a long prison sentence after being convicted in a drug smuggling ring.
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According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 50-year-old Juan Carlos Castro Vasquez was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for “conspiring to traffic cocaine on vessels subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.”
Officials say Castro Vasquez built the vessels used to transport cocaine from Colombia to Central America and Mexico.
“According to court documents, Castro Vasquez was a member of a transnational criminal transportation organization that dispatched cocaine-laden go-fast, low-profile, and self-propelled semi-submersible vessels from Colombia into the eastern Pacific Ocean bound for Central America and Mexico,” a federal release stated.
Authorities said five separate smuggling attempts that were interdicted by the U.S. Coast Guard were linked to Castro Vasquez.
They said more than 9,500 kilograms of cocaine was carried in those five attempts.
Castro Vasquez was initially arrested in Colombia back in October of 2022 and was extradited to the U.S. in April of 2024. He pleaded guilty on Dec. 11, 2024.