Four Individuals Indicted for Smuggling Drugs in Go Fast Boat

TAMPA, FL—U.S. Attorney A. Brian Albritton announces the return of an indictment charging Dean Aureo Bush Amaya, Bryan Borden Elvis Presley, Eduardo Alfonso Torres, and Jose Arle Rojas Becerra with conspiracy and possession of more than five kilograms of cocaine while aboard a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. All of the defendants are from Colombia and they are being detained with no bond. If convicted, each faces a minimum of ten years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of life. On July 17, 2009, the British Royal Navy frigate Iron Duke interdicted a “go-fast” boat off the coast of Venezuela. A British helicopter was launched along with a small boat with a Miami-based U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Boarding Team. The defendants began throwing bales of cocaine overboard. Thirty-six bales were recovered with than 700 kilos of cocaine.

Panama Express Strike Force North (PANEX) is a federally-approved Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) consisting of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the United States Coast Guard, the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Operation Panama Express North currently targets Colombian maritime smuggling organizations responsible for cocaine trafficking throughout the Caribbean to the United States and elsewhere for distribution.

This case is being prosecuted by Kelley Howard - Allen.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of the federal criminal laws, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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