Colombian Drug Gang Bribed Navy Staff to Place GPS Devices on Navy Ships

The indictment of two former employees of the Colombian Navy has revealed an elaborate plot by one of the country’s most notorious drug gangs to use GPS devices to evade capture by Colombian warships. The details of the effort showing the depths of the efforts by the drug gang are contained in a new indictment filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Florida.

The U.S. extradited two former employees of Colombia’s Armada Nacional to Florida to stand trial for a conspiracy to distribute cocaine. The U.S. contends there is “reasonable cause to believe” the cocaine would have been illegally imported into the United States.

According to the indictment and news reports in Colombia, Alberto Alvarez Valenzuela, age 54, worked for Armada Nacional as a civil electromechanical engineer at a base in Uraba, Colombia until he retired in 2022. Luis Carlos Diaz Martinez, age 32, worked for the Colombian Navy until 2012, according to the newspaper USA Today. Both individuals arrived in the U.S. on March 13 to stand trial while the court filing indicates that other former Navy officials were also involved in the scheme. A sergeant, ensign, and other low-ranking officers were named in the indictment.

The U.S. contends that in exchange for money from the drug traffickers, the individuals recruited active-duty members of the Colombian Navy to plant GPS tracking devices on the navy’s vessels. It says that the frigate ARC Antioquia and three patrol boats, ARC Punta Espalda, ARC 11 de Noviembre, and ARC Toledo, were tracked by the drug cartel between November 2022 and March 2023. The vessels were used for patrols and interdictions.

By tracking the movements of the vessels, the drug traffickers hoped to route their vessels around the patrols and avoid detection. The tracking was going on while the vessels were in the Caribbean, including spots near Panama, and approaching Cartagena, Colombia.

The U.S. highlights that drug runners from Colombia move more than 1,000 metric tons of cocaine via the Caribbean and Pacific, often on go-fast semisubmersibles. This latest case illustrates the lengths the drug cartels are going to in moving the drugs to the United States. Previous reports said the cartels have also bribed fishermen to act as spies and report the movement of naval vessels.

The U.S. Attorney’s office reports the two individuals extradited to the U.S. will be prosecuted as part of the Organized Drug Enforcement Task Forces Strike Force Initiative. If convicted, both defendants face a maximum penalty of life in federal prison.