The U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Florida has announced today that Jorge Hernan Gonzalez-Ortiz, 50, and Carlos Andres Aldana-Gil, 43, both from Colombia, have admitted to conspiring to import cocaine into the United States.
According to court documents, Gonzalez-Ortiz was in charge of a drug trafficking organization in Colombia from 2016 to 2023. The organization utilized commercial airplanes as a means to transport cocaine, as stated by the U.S. attorney’s office.
The U.S. attorney’s office revealed that the group hid cocaine inside fruit boxes that were loaded onto planes at Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport in Cali, Colombia. The destination of these drug-laden shipments was Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport on San Andrés Island, Colombia.
Colombian police officers assisted the conspirators in unloading the cocaine on San Andrés Island. The illicit substance was then smuggled by boat to Nicaragua or Honduras, before being transported to Mexico and the U.S. This information was reported by the department.
The U.S. attorney’s office has confirmed that Gonzalez-Ortiz’s organization was involved in smuggling cocaine on 27 commercial flights from Cali between 2016 and 2023. In total, they managed to smuggle over 43,000 kilograms of cocaine.
Aldana-Gil was in charge of overseeing the logistical operations for Gonzalez-Ortiz’s organization in Cali from 2021 to 2023, according to the department.
According to the department, Aldana-Gil was involved in a scheme where he received large quantities of cocaine from fellow conspirators. He would then transport the drugs to the airport and allegedly paid an airport security supervisor to manipulate the security cameras, specifically diverting them away from the external gates.
According to the U.S. attorney’s office, Aldana-Gil not only hired and paid conspirators to modify cargo manifests, but also bribed luggage cart drivers to load cocaine onto planes.
The Colombian National Police confirmed that on July 29, 2023, they intercepted a cocaine shipment belonging to the organization. The shipment was offloaded from a commercial flight on San Andrés Island.
According to the U.S. attorney’s office, both individuals could potentially receive a life sentence in federal prison.
