Ecuadorian Citizen Pleads Guilty to Importing Heroin into the United States

Baltimore, Maryland – Today, Fabricio Garces-Bedoya, 53, of Ecuador, pled guilty to importing heroin into the United States.  He intended to distribute the heroin in the District of Maryland. 

Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the guilty plea with Special Agent in Charge Michael S. McCarthy, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) – Baltimore.

According to the plea agreement, Garces-Bedoya served as a foreign source supplier of heroin for a drug trafficking organization (DTO) based and operated in Maryland.  While in Ecuador, Garces-Bedoya assisted a DTO courier with breaking down bundles of heroin into smaller packages.  The courier then inserted the packages into his/her body and taped other packages to his/her body.

Then the courier boarded a plane ultimately bound for the United States.  After deplaning in the United States, the courier came in contact with an U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer and Narcotics K-9.  After the K-9 detected the presence of narcotics, law enforcement further inspected the courier, uncovering 584.5 grams of heroin.

Garces-Bedoya faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison. A federal district court judge determines sentencing after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Hayes commended HSI for its work in the investigation.  Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stanton Lawyer and Kenneth Clark who are prosecuting the case.

For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, visit justice.gov/usao-md and justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach

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