Another alleged drug kingpin to be tried in Brooklyn’s federal court

Prosecutors: Ansazoy used jungle labs to produce tons of cocaine

September 20, 2019 Rob Abruzzese

Brooklyn federal court. Eagle file photo by Rob Abruzzese

Brooklyn federal court. Photo: Rob Abruzzese/Brooklyn Eagle

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The dust had barely settled over at the Eastern District of New York following the trial and conviction of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman when the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that another alleged drug kingpin had been extradited to the U.S. and will be tried in Brooklyn Federal Court.

Following his arrest in Colombia, Santos Roman Narvaez Ansazoy, a 45-year-old from Cauca, Colombia, was arraigned on Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven Gold in Brooklyn on charges of leading a criminal enterprise.

“For years, Roman Narvaez Ansazoy allegedly participated in a conspiracy to facilitate the distribution of multi-ton quantities of cocaine throughout the United States,” said DEA Special Agent-in-Charge of the NY Division Raymond Donovan.

“Ansazoy’s arrest and extradition demonstrate the commitment of the United States and our partners in Colombia to bring to justice drug traffickers who fuel narco-terrorism and seek to flood our streets with addictive and deadly poisons,” Donovan continued.

According to federal prosecutors, Ansazoy was the founder and principal leader of a drug trafficking organization in Colombia that allegedly used jungle labs to produce multi-ton quantities of cocaine on a monthly basis. That coke was brought to Colombian ports on the country’s west coast and protected by paramilitary groups including the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which the U.S. considers a foreign terrorist organization.

The cocaine was allegedly brought into the U.S., including parts of the Eastern District of New York, by sea.

“The defendant will now face charges in an American courtroom for leading a major Colombian drug trafficking organization that imported huge quantities of cocaine into the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue. “We will cooperate with law enforcement here and abroad to dismantle drug rings that flood our streets and neighborhoods with lethal drugs.”

El Chapo was extradited to the U.S. to face charges in January 2017, though his trial didn’t start until November 2018 and he wasn’t convicted until July 2019. He was sentenced to life plus 30 years and was ordered to pay more than $12.6 billion.