United States of America v. Carlos Orense Azocar

New York City, New York, criminal defense lawyers represented the Defendant charged with conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and related weapons charges.

Carlos Orense Azocar and his drug trafficking organization distributed tons of cocaine destined for importation into the United States. ORENSE AZOCAR helped transport, receive, and distribute loads of cocaine ranging from hundreds to thousands of kilograms, from Venezuela to Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and elsewhere, using air and maritime routes. ORENSE AZOCAR operated fincas, or ranches, in Venezuela, where he stored his cocaine in underground tanks, stored hundreds of deadly weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition, and which had clandestine landing strips from which he dispatched airplanes loaded with cocaine. ORENSE AZOCAR also loaded cocaine on “go-fast” boats that sped from the Venezuelan coastline to intermediate delivery points in the Caribbean, including the Dominican Republic and close to Puerto Rico. To aid in his cocaine distribution, ORENSE AZOCAR worked with and paid bribes to high-ranking officials throughout the Venezuelan government, including military generals and army officials; national police commissioners; and high-ranking officials in the Venezuelan intelligence agencies. ORENSE AZOCAR’s corrupt Venezuelan government connections secured access to military-grade weaponry, protection from military and law enforcement raids, safe passage for ORENSE AZOCAR’s cocaine convoys through checkpoints, and fraudulent airplane transponder codes to permit ORENSE AZOCAR’s cocaine-laden aircraft to freely depart Venezuela en route to Central America and Mexico. ORENSE AZOCAR similarly partnered with armed guerrilla forces operating in Colombia and Venezuela to source cocaine and secure safe passage for his cocaine shipments. ORENSE AZOCAR distributed hundreds of tons of cocaine and made tens of millions of dollars through his narcotics trafficking.

To protect and expand his cocaine trafficking organization, ORENSE AZOCAR employed high-powered weaponry. He had armed security teams that guarded his finca; traveled in armored vehicles with armed security; and used armed security, military forces, and police to protect his convoys of cocaine. Among other weapons, ORENSE AZOCAR employed automatic rifles, submachine guns, handguns modified to operate as machine guns, and a 50-caliber mounted machine gun.

The Defendant was found guilty and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.