MIAMI — A Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) case resulted in five defendants being charged with conspiring to possess with intent to distribute over 150 kilograms of cocaine on Oct. 29.
The five men, Carlos Manuel Velazquez Gomez, 43; David Martinez, 53; Juan Antonio Rivera Velasquez, 45; Onasis Lisandro Garcia, 49; and Richard John Sydney-Smith, 62, had their initial appearances on their respective federal criminal complaints with the charges.
HSI Miami investigated this case with invaluable assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Units. Assistant U.S. Attorney Latoya C. Brown is prosecuting it.
On Oct. 27, Sydney-Smith and Garcia were traveling on a boat two miles east of Port Everglades, when they were intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard and found to be transporting over 150 kilograms of cocaine. The investigation further yielded the arrests of Rivera Velasquez, Velazquez Gomez, and Martinez on Oct. 28, who were waiting in Fort Lauderdale for the cocaine delivery.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Markenzy Lapointe and HSI Miami Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury made the announcement.
Pre-trial detention hearings have been scheduled in these matters for Nov. 1 and Nov. 4.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case numbers 24-mj-6500, 24-mj-6501, 24-mj-6502, 24-mj-6504, and 24-mj-6505.
For more news and information on HSI’s missions in South Florida, follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @HSI_Miami.
A criminal complaint contains allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.