Authorities in the US have arrested a Filipino national on a federal criminal complaint charging him with smuggling 227 kg of cocaine on an oil tanker inbound from Ecuador to El Segundo, narcotics that were intended to be delivered to a Mexican drug cartel, the US Justice Department said on Friday, May 22.
Ceasar Tubay Gelacio, Jr., 43, has been charged with importation of a controlled substance. He was arrested on Thursday, May 21, and he made his initial appearance on Friday afternoon (local time) in the United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, earlier this month, law enforcement was notified that the Greek-owned and Liberian-flagged oil tanker Aquatravesia, whose last port of call was Ecuador, was inbound to the United States carrying kilogram quantities of drugs intended to be delivered to a Mexican cartel.
Crewmembers discovered numerous packages hidden inside the ship’s garbage room that contained suspected narcotics.
The ship’s captain interviewed the crew and discovered that Gelacio possessed the drugs. The captain then secured the narcotics in a different room inside the ship.
The captain was informed that while Aquatravesia was in Mexican waters, small naval craft with armed Mexican cartel members would be waiting 80 nautical miles from the shore on the evening of May 14 and the early morning of May 15. If the drugs were not delivered at this time, additional craft would be waiting in Mexican waters to board the oil tanker and recover the contraband.
The captain also reported receiving what he believed were radio calls from the cartel attempting to hail Aquatravesia prior to a boarding or takeover.
US law enforcement directed Aquatravesia to navigate the ship to the combined port of Los Angeles and Long Beach, where it would board the oil tanker. The ship anchored in the directed area on Thursday.
Once on board, law enforcement recovered approximately 227 kg of cocaine.
Law enforcement learned that Gelacio possessed the cocaine inside the ship, had received the drugs in Ecuador, and intended to distribute them to another party while the boat was traveling past Mexico.
If convicted, Gelacio would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison.
Homeland Security Investigations and the US Coast Guard are investigating this matter.
