Former Government Informant Sentenced To 30 Years In Drug Trafficking Conspiracy

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Alysa D. Erichs, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), announce the conviction and sentencing of Honduran national Fausto Aguero Alvarado, 40. Aguero Alvarado was sentenced to 30 years in prison on drug trafficking conspiracy charges. Aguero Alvarado was arrested in Colombia in 2010 and was extradited to the United States in 2012. A jury convicted Aguero Alvarado following a July 2013 trial.

According to the evidence at trial, Aguero Alvarado had been a source for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) from mid-2008 until early-2009. Following his deactivation as a source, Aguero Alvarado joined forces with the same individuals he had previously helped to target, and entered into a conspiracy to distribute multi-hundred kilo loads of cocaine from Colombia to Honduras. He introduced his co-conspirators to Colombian law enforcement officers who, posing as members of a foreign terrorist organization, sought to obtain weapons that they intended to use to launch attacks on the Colombian government. Aguero Alvarado helped to negotiate a deal to exchange multi-hundred kilogram loads of cocaine in exchange for rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Through Aguero Alvarado’s introductions, the Colombian law enforcement officers ultimately purchased several rocket-propelled grenade launchers, grenades, an Uzi submachine gun and ammunition.

The conviction of Aguero Alvarado is the result of an ongoing Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) led by ICE-HSI. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ICE-HSI and DEA. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Fels and Jerrob Duffy.

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.