According to the plea agreements and other court documents, from 2016 until 2023, Gonzalez-Ortiz established and led a drug trafficking organization in Colombia responsible for transporting cocaine via commercial airplanes. Conspirators loaded the commercial aircraft with cocaine disguised in boxes of fruit at Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport in Cali, Colombia, and intended for Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport in San Andrés Island, Colombia. With the assistance of corrupt Colombian police officers, the conspirators unloaded the cocaine. Then, they smuggled it by boat to Nicaragua, Honduras, Mexico, and the United States.

From 2016 until 2023, Gonzalez-Ortiz’s organization smuggled cocaine onto at least 27 commercial flights in Cali, totaling at least 43,000 kilograms.

From 2021 to 2023, Aldana-Gil worked on behalf of Gonzalez-Ortiz for all logistical aspects of the smuggling operation from Cali. He received truckloads of cocaine from other conspirators, transported the drugs to the airport, and paid an airport security supervisor to divert security cameras away from the airport’s external gates. He also hired and paid the conspirators responsible for altering the cargo manifests, as well as the luggage cart drivers who loaded the drugs onto commercial aircraft. On July 29, 2023, one of the organization’s cocaine shipments was interdicted by the Colombian National Police after it was offloaded from a commercial aircraft in San Andrés Island.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.

The specific mission of the OCDETF Panama Express Strike Force is to disrupt and dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations involved in large-scale drug trafficking, money laundering, and related activities. The OCDETF Panama Express Strike Force comprises agents and officers from the Coast Guard Investigative Service, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Homeland Security Investigations, and the prosecution is being led by the Office of the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida.

Valuable assistance was provided by the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, the Colombian National Police’s Dirreccion de Antinarcotics (DIRAN), and the Colombian Equipo de Trabajo Investigativo Control Aeronaves (ETICA). This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David J. Pardo.

Photo credit: Office of the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida.

Nationwide, the busiest 10 airports reported 1.6 million more passengers from January to April of 2016 compared to the same period in 2015. That’s a jump from just 17.2 million people to 18.8 million, and more than half of these travelers — nearly 10 million — came through Bogotá’s El Dorado International Airport.

Despite high inflation and a national economy being dragged down by slumping oil prices, more people are coming to the capital for work and pleasure. The nation’s famous beaches are also filling up with sunbathers eager to enjoy the surf, sand, and exotic fruit juices that make spending time on the coast so relaxing.

The international airport servicing Colombia’s top tourist destination, Cartagena’s Rafael Núñez International Airport, welcomed 20.3% more travelers than it did during the same period in 2015. The next two largest airports on the Caribbean coast — Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport in Barranquilla and Simón Bolívar International Airport in Santa Marta — also saw jumps of 11.5% and 6.5%, respectively, over last year.

Even the popular getaway hotspot San Andrés has had a huge year. With more than 688,000 travelers passing through its Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport so far in 2016, the island paradise recored a 22.5% increase compared to the same period in 2015.

In total, the four biggest airports servicing Colombia’s Caribbean region have seen almost half a million more passengers in the first four months of 2016 than they did from January to April last year.

Photo: An Avianca A321 takes flight (Credit: Bernal Saborio) / Infographic: Aeronáutica Civil