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| Konstantin Yaroshenko |
The alleged accomplice of Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for attempted drugs trafficking in the United States, has pleaded guilty in a New York court.
Marcel Acevedo Sarmiento, accomplice to Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko whose 20-year drug trafficking sentence by an American court in 2011 bolstered a diplomatic row between Russia and America, was sentenced to 12 years in prison in a US federal court for conspiracy to import cocaine to the US.
According to the US Attorney’s statement, “Through a combination of privately owned aircraft and maritime vessels, these organizations, predominantly based in Colombia and Venezuela, have transported hundreds of tons of cocaine, worth billions of dollars, to West African countries including Liberia.”
Acavedo was caught up in a conspiracy to fly 4,000 kilograms of cocaine, worth upwards of $100 million to Monrovia, Liberia. The 48-year-old Colombian supplier formerly had the capacity to transport enormous quantities of cocaine to West Africa for distribution to Europe and beyond.
Earlier, the U.S. authorities reported the arrest of another suspect in the case, Jorge Ivan Salazar Castano, who was also awaiting extradition from Spain.
Sarmiento and Castano were charged alongside Yaroshenko and other alleged criminals.
The U.S. Attorney's Office maintained that Yaroshenko agreed to transport four tonnes of cocaine from South America to Africa and then onwards to the United States. He arrived to Liberia in May 2010, allegedly to discuss the cost of his services with his Colombian partners.
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| $4.5 million one way trip |
Yaroshenko was offered $4.5 million for trafficking the cocaine from Venezuela to Liberia and another $1.8 million for trafficking drugs to Nigeria and then to Ghana. From Ghana, part of the drugs were to be transferred to the United States.
Yaroshenko was arrested together with Chigbo Peter Umeh in Liberia in May 2010. They were soon extradited to the United States. Umeh was sentenced to 30 years in prison on July 28, while Yaroshenko was given 20 years behind bars.
Umeh, 42, who is from Nigeria, was a broker who assisted various international narcotics suppliers in shipping numerous tons of cocaine from South America to West Africa, from where the cocaine was transported to Europe or elsewhere within Africa. Salazar Castano, 44, who is from Colombia, was a cocaine supplier based in Colombia and Spain, who, together with his co-conspirators, sent large commercial aircraft containing cocaine from South America to West Africa, as well as smaller, private airplanes that departed from clandestine airstrips in Venezuela. Yaroshenko, 41, who is from Russia, was an aircraft pilot and aviation transport expert who transported thousand-kilogram quantities of cocaine throughout South America, Africa, and Europe.
Since in or about 2007, they have attempted to bribe high-level officials in the Liberian Government in order to protect shipments of vast quantities of cocaine, and to use Liberia as a trans-shipment point for further distribution of the cocaine in Africa and Europe. In particular, they met with two individuals they knew to be Liberian government officials -- the Director and Deputy Director of the Republic of Liberia National Security Agency ("RLNSA"), both of whom (unbeknownst to them) in fact were working jointly with the DEA in an undercover capacity ("UC-1" and "UC-2", respectively).
In seeking to ensure the safe passage of their cocaine shipments, they agreed to make payments to the Director and the Deputy Director of the RLNSA in cash and also in the form of cocaine. The CS advised the defendants that a portion of the cocaine paid to the CS would be transported from Liberia to Ghana, from where it would be imported into New York. They participated in a series of face-to-face meetings, phone conversations, and telephone calls with the cooperating Liberian officials and the CS in connection with at least three different shipments of cocaine that they were trying to transport through Liberia:
(1) a shipment of approximately 4,000 kilograms, which was to be flown from Venezuela to Monrovia, Liberia, and the retail value of which was over $100 million;
(2) a shipment of approximately 1,500 kilograms, which was to be flown from Venezuela to Monrovia, Liberia, on an aircraft originating in Panama;
(3) a shipment of approximately 500 kilograms of cocaine, which was to be transported by a ship from Venezuela to a location off the coast of Liberia. Through these meetings, the defendants all understood that once the cocaine was transported to Liberia, a portion of the shipment (representing the payment to the CS) would be transported into Ghana, from where it would be placed on a commercial flight destined for the United States.
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| Gabril Kamara |
Sierra Leone Connection
Since at least in or about 2007, Gabril Kamara, 40, who is from Sierra Leone, has actively sought to recruit South American drug trafficking organizations to establish operations in various West African countries, including in Liberia, Guinea Conakry, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria. Kamara has made efforts to corrupt and influence Government officials within the West African region in order to establish safe havens for the receipt, storage, and trans-shipment of thousands of kilograms of cocaine. Jalloh, 33, and Sesay, both of whom are also from Sierra Leone, have assisted Kamara with his drug distribution enterprise and with his efforts to corrupt public officials for the benefit of South American drug trafficking organizations.
Kamara, Jalloh and Sesay exchanged a series of emails and telephone calls and held numerous meetings with the CS, the cooperating Liberian officials, and a third Liberian government official who was also working jointly with the DEA in an undercover capacity ("UC-3"), in order to negotiate prices and make specific arrangements for the secure transportation of cocaine from South America through Liberia, including, but not limited to, a 4,000 kilogram shipment of cocaine from Colombia. The CS, who was introduced as UC-1's "partner" and confidante, was present for many of these meetings. In the course of these meetings, the defendants understood that the CS, who was to be paid by the defendants in the form of cocaine, was going to send a portion of his share of the cocaine to Ghana, from where it would be imported into New York aboard commercial flights.
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| Lansana Conteh |
It is believed that Gibril Kamara and a few powerful politicians in Sierra Leone, were allegedly knee deep in the cocaine trade in Sierra Leone, until a plane shipment went afoul in 2008. Gibril was reportedly tipped off by some people in power to escape to Guinea. Some government officials were complicit in his escape and the late Lansana Conteh’s conteh girlfriend was en route to Conakry with a convoy of three luxury SUV vehicles filled with foreign currency and precious metals. The convoy was reportedly stopped at the border and searched; however, word came from Freetown to release the convoy as the late President had threatened force if the said convoy was not released. Later, according to wikileaks the US Cable the scenario was a hoax as it was Gibril Kamara who was been smuggled out of the country. In Liberia, Mr. Gibrill Kamara was rounded up by a group of DEA officials in collaboration with Liberian Security Agents and was whisked to the United States of America-New York where he was detained for trial.
Colombia and Venezuela Connection
Acevedo is an alleged cocaine supplier based in Colombia and Venezuela, who was capable of transporting thousand-kilogram quantities of cocaine from South America to various locations in West Africa, for distribution within Africa and for further distribution to Europe and elsewhere. Acevedo worked in the international drug business with other members of the conspiracy charged in the Indictment, including in connection with a 4,000 kilogram shipment of
cocaine which was to be flown from Venezuela to Monrovia, Liberia, for a retail value of over $100 million.
In a series of recorded telephone conversations with a confidential source working for the DEA ("the CS"), Acevedo, who claimed to have been involved in the cocaine trafficking business for over 20 years, coordinated efforts to arrange what was ultimately supposed to be a shipment of between 2,000 and 2,500 kilograms of cocaine on a plane from Venezuela to Liberia. Acevedo confirmed to the CS that the cocaine shipment had been protected by the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (the "FARC"), an international terrorist group dedicated to the violent overthrow of the democratically elected Government of Colombia.
On May 29, 2010, Acevedo indicated that Venezuelanauthorities had seized his plane as well as the cocaine that it contained, and had directed him to leave the country. After apprising the CS of the seizure, Acevedo invited the CS to invest 500 kilograms in a new shipment out of Bolivia, which Acevedo understood the CS intended to import into New York. ACEVEDO instructed the CS to wire transfer a $100,000 payment to him, and provided the CS with the relevant bank account information for the transfer.
Acevedo is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine, knowing and intending that the cocaine would be imported into the United States.