Major Cocaine Trafficker Sentenced to 30 Years in Federal Prison, Fined $1 Million

Nora R. Dannehy, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ANTONIO MIGUEL ARIAS, also known as “Miguel” and “Gilberto Miranda,” 38, a citizen of the Dominican Republic last residing in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today by Chief United States District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 30 years of imprisonment, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for importing large amounts of cocaine into the United States. Judge Thompson also ordered ARIAS to pay a fine in the amount of $1 million.

This matter stems from a five-month investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Safe Streets Task Force. According to the evidence disclosed during the trial, ARIAS headed a cocaine importation organization that was responsible for shipping hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Turbo, Colombia to Bridgeport, Connecticut. The cocaine was hidden in commercial shipments of bananas, which were transported, along with the cocaine, to various commercial fruit wholesalers in Connecticut and New York. The cocaine-laden packages were then transported to a fruit distribution company operated by ARIAS at 1313 Viele Avenue, the Bronx, where the cocaine was removed and then sold.

On August 7, 2007, agents seized 444 kilograms of cocaine that had been transported to Bridgeport aboard the Napier Star, a commercial transport ship operated by the Turbana fruit company. From the port at Bridgeport, the drugs were shipped within pallets of bananas to the Hunt’s Point Fruit Market in the Bronx, a complex of regional commercial fruit distributors. As the pallets were being removed from the market, FBI agents, acting on informant information, seized the load. Thereafter, a member of the ARIAS conspiracy was recruited by the FBI in Connecticut to provide and gather information and evidence on the organization. The investigation culminated in the seizure of an additional 50 kilograms of cocaine at a commercial fruit warehouse in New Haven on December 4, 2007.

On December 13, 2007, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging ARIAS, Jesus Arias, Raymond Pacheco, and Nelson Santiago for their participation in this cocaine trafficking conspiracy. On June 26, 2009, a jury found ARIAS guilty of one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, and one count of attempting to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.

Pacheco and Santiago have pleaded guilty. On October 22, Santiago was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment. Pacheco awaits sentencing.

Jesus Arias remains a fugitive, and U.S. Attorney Dannehy stressed that an indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Each defendant is entitled to a fair trial at which it is the Government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Safe Streets Task Force, with the assistance of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Acting U.S. Attorney Dannehy praised the cooperative effort of the FBI in both Connecticut and the Southern District of New York, and specifically noted the assistance of the New Haven Police Department and Officer Michael Mastropetre, who led the investigation.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney H. Gordon Hall of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force.