NEW YORK – A New York federal judge sentenced a former Honduran congressman to 30 years in prison for his role in a large-scale drug operation that prosecutors say imported more than 30 tons of cocaine into the country. United States.
Fredy Renan Najera Montoya had previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to import cocaine and a gun crime. In addition to the sentence handed down by US District Judge Paul Gardephe, Nájera, 46, was sentenced to seize $ 39 million and pay a $ 10 million fine.
An email was left on Thursday with a lawyer representing Najera.
According to the federal prosecutor’s office in Manhattan, Nájera helped distribute more than 30 tons of cocaine from the Honduras region which he represented in his government position between 2008 and 2015. This included building clandestine airstrips. in Honduras they received shipments of cocaine from Venezuela and facilitate the movement of the drug in western Honduras to be transported to the United States, according to prosecutors.
The security forces protecting the drug ring have used military-grade weapons, including rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and Nájera has cultivated relationships with members of the Honduran National Police and Army to help smugglers avoid arrest. prosecutors said.
They said it would also introduce members of the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel to Honduran officials to provide the cartel with access to the dispatch center in Puerto Cortes, Honduras.
