Five Plead Guilty to Smuggling $31M in Cocaine to South Florida via Fishing Boats
- Federal prosecutors in Florida announced that five individuals pleaded guilty to conspiring to import more than 3,500 kilograms of cocaine into the United States using sports-fishing boats, according...
- Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida and the Homeland Security Task Force, targeted a sophisticated maritime smuggling network.
- Investigators identified Andy Gabriel Mercedes-Hernandez as the primary organizer and financier of the ring.
Federal prosecutors in Florida announced that five individuals pleaded guilty to conspiring to import more than 3,500 kilograms of cocaine into the United States using sports-fishing boats, according to court records cited by Infobae. The international drug trafficking operation moved shipments valued at more than $31 million over a multi-year period.
Five Plead Guilty in Multi-Million Dollar Maritime Cocaine Ring
Sophisticated Maritime Smuggling via Legitimate U.S. Vessels
The case, handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and the Homeland Security Task Force, targeted a sophisticated maritime smuggling network. According to judicial records, the defendants operated legally registered U.S. vessels equipped with hidden compartments to transport narcotics from the Dominican Republic, stopping near the Bahamas before reaching the Florida coastline.
Ring Leaders and Assigned Crew Roles Exposed
Investigators identified Andy Gabriel Mercedes-Hernandez as the primary organizer and financier of the ring. According to the indictment, Mercedes-Hernandez purchased the boats, managed logistics, and oversaw the offloading and transport of the drugs to secure stash houses and local distributors.
Jesus Alberto Salcedo-Perez served as the legal owner of the vessels and handled administrative duties, while Keisy Estibet Peguero custodied and moved the shipments. Enmanuel Amauris Rivera-Cabrera and Mario Joel Rijo-Jimenez acted as captains responsible for navigation and open-water security.
Documented Smuggling Operations Across Three Key Dates
Federal prosecutors detailed three primary smuggling operations conducted by the network over a multi-year span. Court files show the group moved 1,600 kilograms aboard the vessel M/V Mysterry in mid-2023, followed by 900 kilograms on the M/V Maple Leaf in December 2024, and 1,000 kilograms on the M/V Daviniki during July and August of 2025.
Industrial-Scale Trafficking Exploited Legal Frameworks
Federal prosecutor Reding Quiñones characterized the operation in court records as “industrial-scale cocaine runs into South Florida”, highlighting the group’s exploitation of legal maritime frameworks to cloak illicit cargo.
The use of legitimate sports-fishing registrations and rotating crews allowed the network to evade routine maritime patrols until joint federal investigations dismantled the structure.