Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Mark R. Trouville, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division, announce that a federal district court judge sentenced convicted Guatemalan narcotics trafficker Mario Ponce-Rodriguez to a 25-year prison sentence and imposed an $8.8 million judgment.

In May 2012, a Miami jury found Ponce-Rodriguez guilty of conspiring to distribute over five kilograms of cocaine with the knowledge that the cocaine would be unlawfully imported into the United States. According to the evidence at trial, Ponce-Rodriguez distributed or conspired to distribute at least 9,000 kilograms of cocaine. Ponce-Rodriguez was detained by Honduran authorities in San Pedro Sula, Honduras in May of 2011. The United States obtained Ponce-Rodriguez’s extradition from Honduras late last year.

In April 2012, a Miami jury found Ponce-Rodriguez guilty of conspiring to distribute over five kilograms of cocaine with the knowledge that the cocaine would be unlawfully imported into the United States. According to the evidence at trial, Ponce-Rodriguez distributed or conspired to distribute at least 9,000 kilograms of cocaine. Ponce-Rodriguez was detained by Honduran authorities in San Pedro Sula, Honduras in May of 2011. The United States obtained Ponce-Rodriguez’s extradition from Honduras late last year.

DEA Special Agent in Charge Mark R. Trouville stated: “In an effort to thwart the flow of narcotics from South America to the United States, DEA has focused on identifying, indicting and extraditing the top cell leaders operating in Central America. Mario Ponce-Rodriguez operated one of the most significant cells from Guatemala. This should put others on notice that DEA will leave no stone unturned to bringing narco-traffickers to justice.

The case is a result of the ongoing efforts by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The OCDETF mission is to identify, investigate, and prosecute high level members of drug trafficking enterprises, bringing together the combined expertise and unique abilities of federal, state and local law enforcement.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the DEA Miami Field Division. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Fels.

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A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.