WASHINGTON D.C. – An alleged leader of an international drug trafficking organization based in Guatemala was extradited to the U.S. last week, officials announced.
Eliu Elixander Lorenzana-Cordon, 43, was arrested in Guatemala on Nov. 8, 2011. He was indicted for conspiracy to import cocaine into the U.S.. He is facing international narcotics trafficking charges in Washington D.C, officials said.
He was arraigned in federal court.
Lorenzana-Cordon’s father and brother were also named in the same indictment.
According to allegations contained in the indictment, Lorenzana-Cordon is a leader of an international drug trafficking organization that includes his father and several other family members.
Between 1996 and 2012, the organization allegedly stored multi-ton quantities of cocaine from Colombia for later importation into Mexico and the United States, the indictment states.
These cocaine shipments, worth millions of dollars, were allegedly transported to El Salvador on “go-fast” boats, and then smuggled into Guatemala by land and air. The cocaine was inventoried and stored for later export to Mexico and eventually the United States.
On April 27, 2010, the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control designated Lorenzana-Cordon as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act due to his significant role in international narcotics trafficking and his ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, officials said.
Lorenzana-Cordon is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Lorenzana-Cordon’s brother, Waldemar Lorenzana-Cordon, was extradited to the United States on Nov. 13, 2014, and is currently awaiting trial.
Lorenzana-Cordon’s father, Waldemar Lorenzana-Lima, pleaded guilty on Aug. 18, 2014, to conspiracy to import over 900 pounds of cocaine into the United States, and is currently awaiting sentencing.
All three defendants were charged in the same indictment.
The investigation was led by the DEA’s 959/Bilateral Investigations Unit and Guatemala City Country Office, and was part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.