International Drug Trafficking Ring Busted At Atlanta Airport

ATLANTA – Guatemalan nationals Paola Valenzuela Arevalo and Herbert Jonathan Castillo Juarez, who are husband and wife, have pleaded guilty to eight federal charges for their roles in an international heroin and cocaine trafficking conspiracy. Valenzuela and Castillo led the operations of numerous couriers who imported heroin and cocaine into the U.S. and Europe.

From October 2015 through August 2016, Valenzuela and Castillo recruited, managed, and oversaw numerous couriers who trafficked drugs from Guatemala, including exploiting minors under the age of 18 as drug couriers. Much of the heroin that Valenzuela and Castillo trafficked came through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and was destined for major U.S. cities, including New York City, and Philadelphia. Valenzuela and Castillo also trafficked cocaine from Guatemala to several European countries, including Switzerland, Norway, and elsewhere.

In at least two of those smuggling operations, prosecutors said Valenzuela and Castillo told their courier to swallow the drugs to avoid detection.

“Atlanta’s status as a major transportation hub and the location of the world’s busiest airport makes our city a target for criminal organizations seeking to import heroin and other dangerous drugs," said said U.S. Attorney Byung J. Pak. "Disrupting drug trafficking organizations and seizing their narcotics as well as getting their members off the streets is one of our highest priorities.”

On August 18, 2016, Swiss authorities, acting on a tip by U.S. law enforcement, arrested Valenzuela and Castillo attempting to import cocaine they had swallowed into Zurich . After serving sentences on the Swiss drug charges, Valenzuela and Castillo were extradited to the U.S. to face the drug-trafficking charges to which they pleaded guilty.

Back in January, Valenzuela, 39, and Castillo, 42, were indicted on eight counts each of possession with the intent to distribute heroin and the importation of heroin into the United States, as well as conspiracy to commit both of those offenses by trafficking heroin and cocaine to the U.S. and Europe. Sentencing is scheduled for next January.