Times staff
Monday, October 4, 2010
TAMPA – A transportation organizer for Colombian drug smugglers pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to overseeing the export of 18 to 40 multi-ton loads of cocaine.
Leonel Iguaran-Gonzalez, who told the court through an interpreter his surname is Gonzalez-Iguaran, organized the shipments, saw that the drugs were delivered primarily to go-fast boats, coordinated refueling and paid the drug-runners, according to his plea agreement.
The cocaine went from Colombia to Central America en route to the United States, though not every shipment made it. Iguaran-Gonzalez, 49, was indicted in 2008 and arrested in June.
He is one of more than a thousand people arrested since 2000 by Operation Panama Express, a Tampa-based investigation targeting drug smuggling in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean.
He faces a prison term of 10 years to life and a fine of up to $4 million when sentenced.