By Gangsters Inc. Editors

The leader of a Colombian drug trafficking organization pleaded guilty last week to conspiring to distribute cocaine on vessels subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. 38-year-old Hugo Gomez-Garcia, a/k/a “Simon,” “Guava,” and “Guavita,” used semi-submarines to smuggled thousands of kilos of cocaine to the Sinaloa Cartel.

He faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to the plea agreement, Gomez-Garcia was the leader of a transnational criminal organization that dispatched self-propelled semi-submersible (SPSS) vessels (photo above shows an example of such a vessel) from Colombia into the Pacific Ocean destined for Sinaloa Cartel members in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Members of his organization served various roles and responsibilities, such as overseeing security at the SPSS construction sites, building the fiberglass hulls for these vessels, recruiting crewmembers, and organizing the logistics of the smuggling trips. Gomez-Garcia contracted the construction of the SPSS vessels, paid the workers directly or through intermediaries, and invested in the cocaine shipments.

In July and August 2015, and March 2016, the United States interdicted three SPSS vessels in international waters that had departed from Colombia while enroute to Mexico. The first SPSS carried approximately 6,900 kilograms of cocaine, the August 2015 SPSS carried approximately 6,845 kilograms of cocaine, and the March 2016 SPSS contained approximately 5,824 kilograms of cocaine.