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International Drug Traffickers Sentenced in Louisiana for Conspiring to Import Tons of Cocaine

Published February 10, 2022

Louisiana – Two defendants who admitted to conspiring to import tons of cocaine into the United States were recently sentenced in the Eastern District of Louisiana. United States District Judge Lance M. Africk sentenced Gilberto Contreras, age 45, to 108 months in prison for conspiring to import thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the United States. United States District Judge Greg G. Guidry sentenced Carlos Rivadeneira, age 50, to 121 months in prison for conspiring to import thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the United States.

Rivadeneira, according to court records, was a “broker” who connected individuals in Ecuador/Colombia who wanted to move tons of cocaine with transporters who could move the drugs from South America to Central America/Mexico, with an ultimate destination of the United States. Contreras ran a transportation service that transported thousands of kilograms of cocaine from Ecuador/Colombia to Central America and Mexico, with the ultimate destination being the United States. Contreras owned/operated several large container vessels that had hidden compartments built by a specialized welder.

After Rivadeneira arranged the transactions, load owners in Ecuador and Colombia who owned/produced the cocaine being shipped would pay Contreras a per kilogram price to transport the drugs by sea to buyers in Mexico. The load owners would store thousands of kilograms of cocaine in secret locations, primarily along Ecuador’s coast. Contreras would dispatch his vessels from Panama, where they were stationed, to meet go-fast boats transporting cocaine from the shore to international waters. Contreras’ vessels were outfitted with cranes capable of lifting tons of merchandise from go-fast boats onto larger vessels, where crew members then hid the cocaine in hidden compartments.

The case was the result of a multi-year investigation by Homeland Security Investigations New Orleans, in collaboration with HSI offices in Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador. As the investigation progressed, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Panama office became heavily involved, with assistance from the DEA’s Ecuador and Colombia offices. This truly collaborative investigation involving multiple agencies and offices resulted in three massive maritime interdictions, coordinated by the Joint Interagency Task Force South and involving the US Coast Guard and the Guatemalan Navy, and resulting in the seizure of over 13,000 kilograms of cocaine.

Contreras admitted to transporting large amounts of cocaine in four different vessels on at least six different occasions. Each of the six trips involved at least 3,000 kilograms of cocaine, with a street value in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Rivadeneira admitted to being recorded in an undercover meeting discussing the logistics of a recurring 3,000 kilogram shipment of cocaine from Ecuador to buyers in Mexico.

Hundreds of crew members were prosecuted both in the United States and abroad as a result of the interdictions. Later prosecutions in the United States centered on dismantling the organization and included charges against the expert welder who built the hidden compartments, associates who assisted in preparing the vessels for the drug runs, the shore to ship service provider, and a money launderer who assisted in concealing the proceeds. These prosecutions were assisted by numerous parts of the Department of Justice and involved coordinating arrests in multiple countries and subsequent extraditions, with significant assistance from the Department’s Office of International Affairs.

The US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana has secured the convictions of 15 participants and forfeited luxury apartments in the United States and abroad, as well as high-end vehicles and cash.

“Our office remains highly focused on disrupting any international drug trafficking that benefits from the illegal sale and consumption of controlled substances,” said U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans. “Despite the immense scope and duration of this investigation, its outcome was due to effective local and international law enforcement collaborations. Their tireless efforts resulted in the successful prosecutions of those engaged in this criminal conspiracy.”

“The scope and length of this investigation is a testament to our resolve to disrupt the illegal drug trade, aggressively pursue narcotics traffickers, and keep our communities free from dangerous narcotics,” said Homeland Security Investigations New Orleans Special Agent in Charge David Denton. “HSI, and our law enforcement partners, know that our work isn’t over, but our commitment to the American public is as strong as ever.”

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration investigated this case, with assistance from the United States Coast Guard. Assistant United States Attorney David Haller is prosecuting this case.