Guilty Verdict Rendered By Tampa Jury For High Seas $21M Cocaine Bust

TAMPA, FL — A federal jury in Tampa has found a 70-year-old Venezuela man guilty of trying to smuggle $21 million worth of cocaine into the United States aboard a modified high-speed boat.

Hector Caballero faces a sentence of 10 years up to life in federal prison. Caballero will learn his fate at a sentencing hearing on July 21.

Caballero and three other men were indicted Nov. 30 after being chased down by the U.S. Coast Guard on the high seas.

According to testimony presented at trial, on Nov. 6, an alert maritime patrol aircraft pilot spotted a g0-fast vessel in the Caribbean Sea about 100 miles north of Colombia. These sleek cigarette boats with open hulls are able to reach speeds of 135 mph, making them ideal for drug smugglers who can easily outrun the more cumbersome Coast Guard cutters. Even the fast-response cutters aren't capable of going faster than 28 knots, or about 32 mph.

The pilot thought it was suspicious because the boat had several fuel barrels visible, but most of the deck was covered with a tarp. The boat had no registration numbers on the hull, was flying no flag and was moving at a high speed in a section of the Caribbean where maritime drug smuggling is common.

That was enough to convince the U.S. authorities. The Coast Guard promptly deployed a helicopter interdiction squadron based in Jacksonville. Meanwhile, a law enforcement detachment hitched a ride on a cutter operated by the USCG Tactical Law Enforcement Team South, based in Opa-Lock.

The HNLMS Holland, a Dutch naval vessel, happened to be patrolling in the area where the so-called "narco boat" was spotted. The cutter rendezvoused with the Dutch boats and welcomed the Coast Guard law enforcement attachment aboard.

What followed was like a scene out of the film, "Speed Kills," minus John Travolta.

The helicopter arrived first and signaled the go-fast vessel to stop. The boat operator ignored the command, continuing at speeds topping more than 100 mph. Even warning shots directed at the boat by the helicopter team has no effect.

Finally, the helicopter team shot out the boat's two outboard engines, putting a permanent end to the boat's attempt at evasion.

Shortly after, the heavily armed Coast Guard law enforcement unit arrived in small boats launched from the HNLMS Holland and board the narco boat.

Caballero and three other men onboard surrendered.

While the Coast Guard units suspected the narco boat was carrying drugs, they were surprised to find that more than 700 kilograms of cocaine was stowed under the fuel barrels and tarp.

Although a respectable haul by Florida Coast Guard units, it doesn't come close to a couple of massive drug seizures at sea by the Coast Guard.

On Feb. 17, 2022, crews from nine Coast Guard ships seized 54,000 pounds of cocaine and 15,800 pounds of marijuana worth about $1.06 billion.

And on Aug. 5, 2021, 10 Coast Guard vessels confiscated 59,700 pounds of cocaine and 1,430 pounds of marijuana worth more than $1.4 billion, the largest seizure in Coast Guard history.