SAN DIEGO: The last of four defendants was sentenced in San Diego federal court Monday to 37 months in prison for smuggling more than 11,600 pounds of marijuana on two panga boats.
Armando Rodriguez-Ramirez, 24, pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to import marijuana.
Defendants Reyes Rodriguez-Gomez, 46, Jose Transito Rangel-Luna, 49, and Francisco Antonio Castro-Aviles, 25, previously pleaded guilty to the same crime and were sentenced to 78, 30, and 21 months behind bars, respectively.
“We aren’t going to let our oceans become a freeway for drug traffickers,” said U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy. “Smugglers might think the vast Pacific is a good place to be invisible, but these defendants know otherwise.”
According to the complaint, the defendants were arrested on July 29, 2014, after their two drug-smuggling vessels traveling together were spotted in international waters about 115 nautical miles southwest of Ensenada, Mexico by a Coast Guard aircrew from Air Station Sacramento.
Two Coast Guard cutters — including one from San Diego — were patrolling in the area and launched pursuit boats to intercept the smuggler vessels. The defendants abandoned a 55-foot boat laden with marijuana and fled in a 35-foot panga boat, authorities said.
The Coast Guardsmen chased the defendants for about two hours before stopping their panga boat and taking them into custody.
The drug-laden 55-foot panga boat as well as floating bales of marijuana were also recovered.
