News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 06, 2011
Contact: DEA Public Affairs
202-307-7977

Fifty-Six BACRIM Narco-Traffickers Charged in Operation Seven Trumpets and Operation Under the Sea

Colombian BACRIM narco-traffickers indicted on cocaine conspiracy charges

SEP 06 -- BOGOTA -- Jay Bergman, Andean Regional Director, Drug Enforcement Administration, Mark R. Trouville, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, Miami Field Division, and Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, in conjunction with Viviane Morales Hoyos, Attorney General of Colombia, General Oscar Naranjo, Director of the Colombian National Police, Admiral Alvaro Echandia, Commandant of the Colombian Navy, and General Julio Gonzalez Ruiz, Colombian Air Force, announce d the indictment of more than 50 Colombian Nationals for their involvement in drug trafficking from South America to Central America, Mexico and the United States using aircraft and submarines. These illicit maritime and aviation transportation organizations were directly tied to the Colombian Criminal Bands (BACRIMs) which have emerged to fill a organized criminal drug trafficking void left by the dismantlement of the Norte Valle Cartel, the dissolution of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC).

On February 11, 2011, U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer announced the creation of the BACRIM prosecution unit within the Narcotics Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, specifically dedicated to dismantling emerging Bandas Criminales in Colombia. This is the first such unit in the United States specifically designed to target the emerging BACRIMs. Since then, including today’s defendants, more than 100 BACRIM leaders and associates have been indicted by the Southern District of Florida. Today, Ferrer announced the most recent BACRIM prosecutions: Operation Seven Trumpets and Operation Under the Sea , resulting in charges against 56 defendants in six separate federal cases.

“Together with our law enforcement partners in Colombia, we have developed a proactive strategy to combat the rise of the BACRIM. Our common goal is simple: target the BACRIM leadership, dismantle their narco-trafficking operations, and eliminate the threat they pose to the security of the region and the international community ,â€