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More arrests made in drug investigations
A Tampa-based operation and an overlapping Colombian effort round up five men suspected in cocaine manufacture and distribution.
By Times staff writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 28, 2003
TAMPA -- Five more Colombians have been arrested in connection with Operation Panama Express, a massive federal drug investigation.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa, authorities in Colombia arrested Luis Manuel Sanchez Varilla on Thursday. Varilla is an alleged member of a Colombian paramilitary group that was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. Department of State.
Varilla faces charges of conspiracy to import cocaine and conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine. His arrest was part of Colombia's Operation Pegasus II, which overlaps with the U.S. led Operation Panama Express, which is run out of Tampa and has resulted in the seizure or destruction of 185 tons of cocaine and more than 300 arrests.
Four other men -- Balbino Olaya-Carvajal, his brothers Angel and Miguel, and Eliseo Estupinan-Gonzalez -- were arrested as part of an indictment filed in Tampa. They will likely be extradited to Tampa to face charges.
The Olaya organization used fishing vessels and speedboats to transport tons of cocaine to Mexico for ultimate distribution in the United States, according to the news release.
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