Drug Trafficking—“Operation Watusi/Green Traketon”

Late last week, authorities from a joint Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force announced the indictment of 56 individuals and the arrest of 27 suspects in connection with an alleged Columbian cocaine trafficking ring.^[1] The criminal charges, entered in 8 different indictments, include drug trafficking, money laundering, and one count of kidnapping a federal agent.^[2]

The arrests were carried out simultaneously in New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, Colombia, St. Maarten, and the Dominican Republic.^[3] Authorities also seized foreign and domestic bank accounts, $3.1 million dollars in U.S. currency, approximately 1,900 kilos of cocaine, and six boats.^[4] The indictments allege that the group smuggled cocaine from Colombia through Caribbean islands and Puerto Rico to the United States.^[5] Proceeds are then said to have been laundered through a complex money laundering scheme known as the Black Market Peso Exchange.^[6]

Although the target of the investigation was the drug‑and‑money operation, it was the alleged December 2005 kidnapping of an ICE agent involved with the Task Force that heated up the operation.^[7] One of the suspects, Luis Alberto Peña-Peña has been charged with coordinating the kidnapping of an undercover ICE agent in Medellin, Colombia and demanding a ransom of $2 million.^[8] Apparently the unnamed uncover officer was released after a half‑day of captivity, when one of Mr. Peña-Peña’s lieutenants discovered a badge and documents indicating that the man they were holding was a federal agent.^[9] The agent was released shortly before the Task Force had planned to launch a “rescue operation.”^[10]

According to an ICE spokesperson, Mr. Peña-Peña and his confederates believed "killing a U.S. federal agent would've brought more attention to them than they wanted."^[11] Mr. Peña-Peña and 28 other suspects are still at large.^[12]

The unified Task Force coordinated teams from the DEA/ICE “Operation Watusi” investigation and the FBI “Operation Green Traketon” investigation, with assistance from Puerto Rican authorities and the governments of Colombia, the Dominican Republic, the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles, and the British Virgin Islands.^[13]

If convicted of trafficking narcotics, a violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 and 846, penalties may include imprisonment for a term of 10 years to life and/or a fine of up to $4 million. The money laundering charge, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956, carries a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison and up to $500,000 in fines. Authorities are also seeking forfeiture of the seized property and cash.^[14]

Mr. Peña-Peña could be charged with kidnapping as a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(5). A person who “unlawfully seizes, confines, inveigles, decoys, kidnaps, abducts, or carries away and holds for ransom or reward” a U.S. official in the commission of his or her job, and is convicted, may face a sentence of life in prison.

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[1] International Drug Organization that Kidnapped Undercover ICE Agent Targeted in Four-Nation Law Enforcement Operation, ICE Press Release, Oct. 6, 2006 [hereinafter ICE].
[2] Id.
[3] Lara Jakes Jordan, Arrests Made in Columbia Drug Case, Associated Press, Oct. 6, 2006 [hereinafter AP].
[4] Jerry Seper, U.S. Indicts 56 on Drug, Laundering Charges, Washington Times, Oct. 7, 2006 [hereinafter Times].
[5] AP supra note 3.
[6] ICE supra note 1.
[7] AP supra note 3.
[8] ICE supra note 1
[9] AP supra note 3.
[10] Times supra note 4.
[11] Times supra note 4.
[12] AP supra note 3.
[13] ICE supra note 1.
[14] ICE supra note 1.