Colombian brothers Robin and Álvaro Castro-Gómez were sentenced to 22 years in prison. One of its shipments was seized near the Galapagos.
The drug traffickers Robin and Álvaro Castro-Gómez after their arrest in Cali, in December 2020.
Judge Susan C. Bucklew of Florida sentenced the Castro-Gómez drug traffickers for conspiring to distribute more than 3,500 kilograms of cocaine in the United States (USA). Both pleaded guilty.
According to the Attorney General’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, based in Tampa, on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, the value of the cocaine that the Castro-Gómez trafficked exceeds USD 100 million.
According to court documents, between August 2017 and March 2018, Robin and Álvaro Castro-Gómez, ages 36 and 41, respectively, were responsible for shipping cocaine aboard three vessels.
These vessels left from Tumaco , on the Colombian Pacific coast (near the border with Ecuador). Their destination was Central America, from where they would later be taken to the United States.
Seizures
The US Coast Guard intercepted the first vessel in August 2017. She was located approximately 420 nautical miles northwest of the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) and was carrying 998 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside.
The second shipment, in November 2017, was also captured by the US Coast Guard before reaching its destination.
On this occasion, the interception occurred approximately 326 nautical miles northwest of Cocos Island (Costa Rica). The drug shipment weighed 1,453 kilograms.
In March 2018, the United States Coast Guard intercepted the third vessel approximately 360 nautical miles south of Guatemala and found 1,120 kilograms of cocaine on board.
Álvaro Castro-Gómez, who has a prior federal conviction for narcotics trafficking on the high seas, participated in the shipments. Although, the leader was Robin Castro-Gómez in all three operations.
The Colombian drug traffickers had been followed by the US authorities since 2017. But they were arrested in December 2020, when they were partying in a disco in Cali.
