Opinion ID: 4465260
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Interdiction and Indictment

Text: A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida returned an indictment charging Ortega-Montez, Reyes-Garcia, and Cruz, along with codefendants Raul Alberto Rengifo-Mendoza, Williams Alfredo Perea-Blandon, Martin Perea-Perlaza, and Isaias Garcia-Garcia, with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five or more kilograms of a mixture and substance containing cocaine while aboard a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, in 2 Case: 18-10144 Date Filed: 12/18/2019 Page: 3 of 35 violation of 46 U.S.C. §§ 70503(a)(1), 70506(b), 70507(a), and 21 U.S.C. § 960(b)(1)(B). The conspiracy began when Rengifo-Mendoza, Perea-Perlaza, and PereaBlandon agreed to travel on Rengifo-Mendoza’s boat from Colombia and transfer a cargo of cocaine to a boat coming from Mexico. They planned to refuel and transfer drugs to the boat coming from Mexico at a specific location saved on a GPS device. The three men left Colombia, but before they could meet up with the boat coming from Mexico, they were arrested by the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard searched Rengifo-Mendoza’s boat and found 930 kilograms of cocaine, GPS devices, a phone, and radios. The same day, the Coast Guard intercepted a second vessel, the boat that had departed from Mexico and was scheduled to receive the cocaine from Rengifo-Mendoza’s boat. On the second vessel, Reyes-Garcia was captain, Ortega-Montez was copilot, and Cruz and Garcia-Garcia were assigned to “look around and to transfer gas.” DE 269 at 160-65.1 Ortega-Montez, Cruz, and Garcia-Garcia knew each other before getting on the vessel because they used to fish together. Reyes-Garcia advised his crew that, in the event they were caught by the Coast Guard, they should say they “were looking for some people, because 1 All citations in the form “DE __” refer to the district court’s docket entries. 3 Case: 18-10144 Date Filed: 12/18/2019 Page: 4 of 35 back then some people had gotten lost in [Mexico].” Id. at 173. Indeed, a group of Mexican fishermen had been lost at sea for about a week and a rescue effort was underway. Reyes-Garcia communicated with Rengifo-Mendoza, PereaPerlaza, and Perea-Blandon by radio and was informed that his boat was about 100 miles away from their boat before the interdiction. When Reyes-Garcia, Ortega-Montez, Cruz, and Garcia-Garcia were interdicted by the Coast Guard, Reyes-Garcia identified himself as the master of the vessel and stated that the purpose of the voyage was to look for lost fishermen. The Coast Guard officers searched the vessel and found messages on a satellite phone indicating that the four men were going to meet up with someone. The officers found 60 15-gallon jugs of gasoline, a significant amount of fuel considering the size of the boat, as well as some empty fuel jugs. They found no cocaine on the vessel. The Coast Guard officers arrested Garcia-Garcia, Reyes-Garcia, Cruz, and Ortega-Montez and transferred them to a Coast Guard cutter, which took them to Miami. While on the Coast Guard cutter, Reyes-Garcia and Ortega-Montez spoke with another detainee who had been apprehended for an unrelated drug trafficking crime, Eddi Cecilio Arana-Mideros, about their failed plan to transport drugs. 4 Case: 18-10144 Date Filed: 12/18/2019 Page: 5 of 35