Opinion ID: 758679
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Samuel Posada-Rios Organizes La Compania

Text: 17 In 1985 Leoncio Ysreal Espaillat 1 met Fabio Ochoa, Jr., a Colombian cocaine supplier, and Samuel Posada-Rios. From 1986 through 1988 Espaillat stored approximately 12,000 kilograms of Fabio Ochoa's cocaine at Espaillat's ranch in the Dominican Republic. Some of the cocaine was delivered to Samuel Posada-Rios, who was then operating from Tampa, Florida. Samuel Posada-Rios and his partner, Carlos Moncada Rendon, formed a cocaine trafficking enterprise known as La Compania. Samuel Posada-Rios' inner circle of associates included Miguel Cardona and Luis Gerardo Rios-Castano (a/k/a Luis Rios ; a/k/a Flecha ) 2 (both of whom operated as transporters and assassins for the organization), Pepo Rendon (Carlos Rendon's brother), Wilson Patino, Mario Restrepo, and Mercedes Agredo. Samuel Posada-Rios supplied cocaine to a number of major distributors, including Esnoraldo De Jesus Posada-Rios, Jose Aref-Mohammed, Enrique Perez, Jose Hernandez, Harold Cortes, and Wonda Cortes. Each of the major distributors had his or her own distributor customers. 18 At Samuel Posada-Rios' direction Espaillat began transporting drugs and money from Los Angeles to New York and Miami in 1986. On his first trip Espaillat flew to Los Angeles and was driven by Samuel Posada-Rios from the airport to the cocaine stash house. After hiding the cocaine in a secret compartment in a camper of a small truck, Espaillat drove to Queens, New York, and delivered the cocaine to Esnoraldo De Jesus Posada-Rios. Shortly thereafter, Samuel Posada-Rios moved his drug trafficking operations from Tampa to Houston. Samuel Posada-Rios began paying Espaillat $10,000 a month to assist in driving 25- to 200-kilogram loads of cocaine from Houston to Austin, Dallas, New York, and Colorado by renting cars and finding apartments and storage for the cocaine. 19 In early 1987 Espaillat delivered two loads, of 10 and 25 kilograms, to Aref-Mohammed at the instructions of Samuel Posada-Rios. Aref-Mohammed then asked to meet Samuel Posada-Rios, and the two began dealing directly with one another. Espaillat then began making cocaine deliveries at least twice a month to Chu Chu, an employee of Aref-Mohammed. Henry Alfredo Garcia also transported cocaine from Samuel Posada-Rios to Aref-Mohammed through Chu Chu. 20 In 1987 most of the cocaine delivered to Samuel Posada-Rios in Houston arrived over land. On September 6, 1987, however, 850 kilograms of cocaine arrived in Houston on a ship from Colombia and was transported to Samuel Posada-Rios' house in the Mission Bend area of Houston. Present at the house to count and distribute the cocaine were Samuel Posada-Rios, Espaillat, Enrique Perez, Mercedes Agredo, Miguel Cardona, Rios-Castano, and Chu Chu. Perez and Aref-Mohammed received 350 kilograms, and the remaining 500 kilograms went to Samuel Posada-Rios. Espaillat delivered $675,000 in cash to the captain of the ship as payment for transporting the cocaine. Espaillat obtained the money from Samuel Posada-Rios, Enrique Perez, and Chu Chu, who was acting on behalf of Aref-Mohammed. 21 In 1987, 1988, and 1989 Samuel Posada-Rios received between 400 and 500 kilograms of cocaine per month. Espaillat estimated that from the beginning of 1987 through the summer of 1988 Samuel Posada-Rios received between 12,000 and 14,000 kilograms of cocaine, and that he received another 2,000 kilograms of cocaine during the remainder of 1988. Over 1,000 kilograms of this cocaine was supplied to Aref-Mohammed. 3 22 In September of 1988 Espaillat distributed 60 kilograms of cocaine in Miami at Samuel Posada-Rios' direction. He received $250,000 in cash in payment but was robbed of this money at gunpoint. Samuel Posada-Rios ordered Espaillat to go to Colombia, where he was shown a severed arm and hand wearing the watch and ring that Espaillat identified as formerly belonging to the person who had robbed him. 23