TWO PUERTO RICAN MEN SENTENCED ON COCAINE SMUGGLING CONVICTIONS

St. Thomas, VI – United States Attorney Delia L. Smith announced today that Chief District Judge Robert A. Molloy sentenced Pedro Juan Ramos-Ramirez, 28, and Gerald Albert Cruz, 27, both of Puerto Rico to 48 and 57 months incarceration, followed by four years of supervised release and $100 special assessment each, on their convictions for Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Cocaine While on Board a Vessel Subject to the Jurisdiction of the United States.

According to court documents, on December 29, 2021, Customs and Border Protection Air Marine Operations officers interdicted a go-fast vessel operating without navigational lights heading towards Puerto Rico. As the officer pursued the vessel, the occupants began throwing bails into the ocean. Officers disabled the vessel’s engine forcing it to stop, and later recovered the bales from the ocean which contained 73 bricks of cocaine weighing 75 kilograms.

This case was investigated by Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operation, Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security Investigations, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Everard E. Potter.