Four Crewmen Plead Not Guilty to Drug Trafficking After Arrest off Costa Rica
By Kristen Zambo

It wasn't a boatload of fresh fish for area markets and restaurants that four men were trying to bring into the country last month from Colombia, investigators say.

"All the fishing equipment was stowed. There was no ice on board. There was no bait," said Doug Molloy, Fort Myers's chief assistant U.S. Attorney. "They said they were fishing."

A U.S. Coast Guard boat pulled over the crew off the coast of Costa Rica on Dec. 5, court records show. But the Colombian nationals didn't have such a cache of fish destined for the digestive tracts of Florida tourists and residents. Then one of the crew began to sweat, Molloy said.

That's because they had about 2 tons of cocaine onboard, he said.

The four men pleaded innocent to drug trafficking charges on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Fort Myers after a federal grand jury handed up their indictment Dec. 14.

"Almost the entire boat" was filled with cocaine, Molloy said Wednesday after their arraignment. The approximately 2-ton load equals about 4,000 kilos.

Leopoldo Caiceda Caiceda, 55, of Buenaventura, Mauro Luis Badillo Lozano, 39, of Bahia Solano, Victor Manuel Lemos Vasquez, 35, of Calle-Primera, and Jaime Beltran, 51, of Cali, were indicted on one count each of possession of cocaine and one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine.

The four men, speaking through one interpreter who was rigged to headphones and a speaker so the defendants could simultaneously follow the court hearing, sat quietly in the court room dressed in red Lee County Jail jumpsuits.

They face a minimum of 10 years in prison on these charges, with a life term the maximum sentence, Molloy said during the hearing. They could be fined up to $4 million, but that amount could double to $8 million if they have prior convictions. Past criminal convictions also could double the minimum sentence to 20 years, Molloy said.

"It's a run-of-the-mill boat case, which I've seen 40 of," Ronald Marzullo, Beltran's defense attorney, said after the hearing.

A status hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday, with their trial tentatively set for February.

Mark J. O'Brien, Caiceda's defense attorney, said he did not want to comment on the case before a sentencing hearing.

"Afterward I may have something to say," he said outside of the courtroom.

Molloy said the Coast Guard picked up the boat during a routine counter-drug patrol "on a known (drug trafficking) route." The boat was intercepted as part of Operation Panama Express.

Molloy declined comment on what specific route the men are accused of taking.

"Routine?" said Richard Lakeman, Lozano's defense attorney, before declining further comment.

Colombia is one country noted as a drug pipeline to the United States. In 1991, the Cali drug cartel came under investigation when a drug-sniffing dog used by U.S. Customs officers alerted investigators to a shipment of cocaine hidden in concrete posts at Miami's seaport. Agents seized 12,000 kilos of cocaine, sparking a more than decade-long investigation into the cartel, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement records.