Before the Third Criminal Sentencing Court, Eddie Waldemar Pineda Velásquez accepted this Friday, June 26, to be extradited to the United States for crimes related to drug trafficking.
According to the investigation, witness statements were key to the capture of Pineda Velásquez.
The process will continue and delivery to the US authorities will have to be completed through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as reported.
At the hearing it was indicated that the accused is wanted by the United States justice system for the alleged crime of drug trafficking.
US authorities accuse him of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute five kilograms or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine.
In addition, they point out that he had the intention and reasonable cause to believe that the drug would be illegally imported into the United States.
According to the investigation, a drug trafficking organization was identified that manufactures cocaine in Ecuador and Colombia and then transports it through Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, on its route north.
Additionally, the investigation, according to authorities, identified Pineda Velásquez as a member of the organization based in Guatemala. Supposedly, the functions of the accused were to transport, direct and manage part of the drug trafficking activities, the investigation added.
Law enforcement authorities indicated that they interviewed three cooperating witnesses, former members of the organization who participated in drug trafficking activities, according to the indictment during the hearing.
One of the witnesses indicated that, in November 2020, a Mexican drug trafficker, known as “Poncho”, based in Mexico and associated with the Sinaloa cartel, coordinated the shipment of a container with 300 kilograms of cocaine from Costa Rica to Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala, according to the authorities’ investigation.
According to authorities, the drugs were hidden in recycled metal scrap. They added that another witness stated that the accused was supposedly present at the reception of the container and at the delivery of the cocaine in Retalhuleu.
According to one of the witnesses, Pineda Velásquez received a monthly salary of US$5 thousand to assist “Poncho” operations in Guatemala. In addition, he allegedly facilitated the receipt of six shipments, the witness stated.
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