5 plead guilty to importing $31 million worth of cocaine into South Florida – NBC 6 South Florida

Five defendants pleaded guilty to conspiring to import thousands of kilograms of cocaine into South Florida using sport fishing vessels from the Dominican Republic, authorities said.

“Operation Horseman’s Voyage” had focused on maritime trafficking networks responsible for trafficking large amounts of cocaine into South Florida, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.

According to court records, Andy Gabriel Mercedes-Hernandez, 32; Jesus Alberto Salcedo-Perez, 32; Keisy Estibet Peguero, 38; Enmanuel Amauris Rivera-Cabrera, 32; and Mario Joel Rijo-Jimenez, 46, participated in a drug trafficking organization that used U.S.-registered sport fishing vessels to transport multi-hundred-kilogram shipments of cocaine.

“These were not fishing trips. They were industrial-scale cocaine runs into South Florida,” said U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones. “This organization used sport fishing vessels and hidden compartments to move thousands of kilograms of cocaine from offshore waters to stash houses and distributors in our communities. Through the Homeland Security Task Force, we will continue attacking these trafficking networks at every point in the pipeline, from sea to shore to street.”

Authorities said Mercedes-Hernandez led the organization and financed the purchase of the vessels and other expenses, and supervised the unloading, transportation and delivery of the drugs.

The organization imported over 3,500 kilograms and over $31 million worth of cocaine that were stored in concealed compartments on the vessels, authorities said. The cocaine was then picked up off the coast of the Bahamas and then taken to South Florida.

Authorities said Salcedo-Perez was the registered owner of the vessels, Peguero helped transport and guard the cocaine shipments, and Rivera-Cabrera and Rijo-Jimenez were the captains of the vessels.

Each defendant pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to import more than five kilograms of cocaine. Each faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. 

The operation was led by the Homeland Security Task Force and operated alongside “Operation Mousetrap,” which focused on cocaine distribution in Miami.