Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A Colombian national and lieutenant for Clan del Golfo (CDG) pleaded guilty today to conspiring to distribute large quantities of cocaine destined for the United States.

According to court documents, Fabian Edilson Torres Caranton, also known as David and Cassius, 53, served as a coordinator, intermediary, and lieutenant for the Bloque Roberto Vargas Gutierrez of CDG — a Colombian paramilitary and multibillion-dollar Transnational Criminal Organization. CDG is one of Colombia’s largest and most powerful drug cartels with its membership in the thousands. CDG’s primary source of income is from cocaine trafficking, which it uses to fund its paramilitary activities.

According to court documents, in July 2018, Torres Caranton and an individual seeking to broker the purchase of cocaine on behalf of Mexican buyers, attended a meeting with another member of CDG at a ranch in or near Caucasia, Colombia. During the meeting, the other CDG member authorized the production of 500 kilograms of cocaine to be transported from Colombia into and through Central America for delivery to Mexican buyers for final delivery to the United States. Torres Caranton spent several days monitoring the cocaine production at a clandestine laboratory in Coralito, Colombia. Torres Caranton and his co-conspirators made two controlled deliveries of cocaine to an undercover officer: 191 kilograms on Sept. 16, 2018, in Valledupar, Colombia, and 172 kilograms on Oct. 16, 2018, in Cartagena, Colombia. Torres Caranton knew the purported Mexican buyers intended to distribute the cocaine in Houston, Texas.

Torres Caranton pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine for unlawful importation into the United States from Colombia. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 4 and faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Miami Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI Miami Field Office investigated the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section’s Judicial Attaché Office in Bogota worked with law enforcement partners in Colombia to secure the arrest and December 2023 extradition of Torres Caranton.

Trial Attorney Douglas Meisel and Acting Deputy Chief Melanie Alsworth of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section are prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).