NEW YORK – A 47-year-old Colombian drug dealer, also known as “Loco Barrera,” plead guilty Wednesday to manufacturing tons of cocaine and smuggling it throughout the world and the United States.
Daniel Barrera Barrera was extradited from Colombia on July 9, 2013, officials said.
U.S. Attorney Loretta E. Lynch said: “Daniel ‘Loco’ Barrera Barrera’s reign as one of the world’s most prolific narcotics traffickers has come to an end. Barrera’s illegal empire, funded by millions of dollars of illicit proceeds and backed by some of the most lethal drug cartels and terrorist groups in the world, wreaked havoc in Colombia and around the world for decades.”
Adding, “The amount of destruction Barrera wrought upon the world, all in pursuit of staggering profits, is truly incalculable. This plea demonstrates our government’s commitment to bringing all narcotics traffickers to justice, no matter how rich, powerful, ruthless and violent they may be.”
Barrera is facing up to life in prison when he is sentenced for all his crimes, which including pending federal crimes in Florida, according to officials.
These are the criminal allegations against Barrera, according to federal officials:
- From 1998 until 2010, Barrera ran a cocaine manufacturing and trafficking syndicate out of Colombia. Barrera purchased the raw cocaine base or paste from the designated terrorist group Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or the “FARC.”
- The FARC, which has been and is dedicated to the violent overthrow of the democratically elected Government of Colombia, has been the world’s largest supplier of cocaine and has engaged in bombings, massacres, kidnappings, and other acts of violence within Colombia.
- After purchasing the raw cocaine base from the FARC, Barrera converted the raw cocaine into powder at laboratories he owned and operated in an area of Colombia controlled by the since demobilized terrorist group, Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia or AUC.
- For years, the AUC’s main political objective was to defeat the FARC in armed conflict, and it financed its terrorist activities through the proceeds of cocaine trafficking in AUC-controlled regions of Colombia. At the time of Barrera’s criminal conduct, the FARC and the AUC were both designated by the U.S. Department of State as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
- After processing the cocaine powder in his laboratories, Barrera arranged for the shipment and transportation of the cocaine powder to locations on four continents, including the United States.
- Although Barrera purchased raw materials for cocaine production from the FARC, he was able to maintain his network of cocaine-processing laboratories in AUC-controlled territory, in part by paying monthly “taxes” to the AUC.
- The fees Barrera paid to the AUC also allowed him to safely move the processed cocaine through and out of Colombia.
- Each month, Barrera processed approximately 30,000 kilograms of raw cocaine base into about the same amount of cocaine powder, resulting in approximately 400 tons of cocaine annually.
- In total, Barrera reaped tens of millions of dollars of profits from cocaine trafficking, which he laundered through illicit means.