Court Sentences Dominican Drug Smuggler Caught With Approximately 443 Kilograms Of Cocaine

On October 3, 2024, United States District Court Judge, Terry F. Moorer, sentenced Jesus Acosta-Acosta, a Dominican national, to 87 months imprisonment for smuggling 443 kilograms of cocaine in the Caribbean Sea. Acosta-Acosta had previously plead guilty to the drug smuggling offense, which is charged under Title 46, United States Code, Section 70506 (b).

Documents filed with the Court established that on September 13, 2023, during a routine patrol in the Caribbean, a Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) located a suspicious Go-Fast Vessel (GFV) on a northerly path with two persons on board.

United States Coast Guard Cutter Valiant (USCGC VALIANT) launched it's Over the Horizon (OTH) boat with a boarding team (BT). The OTH and BT arrived on scene and gained positive control of the vessel approximately 161 nautical miles South of Isla Beta, Dominican Republic. The BT recovered 13 bales of cocaine from the vessel weighing approximately 443 kilograms. The government of the Dominican Republic denied any claim to nationality of the GFV, and the vessel was thus subsequently treated as one without nationality, giving the United States jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute the case under Title 46. The vessel was deemed a danger to navigation due to no suitable tow points and its distance from land. Consequently, the vessel was sunk upon completion of law enforcement activities.

Title 46 United States Code, § 70501 states: Congress finds and declares that (1) trafficking in controlled substances aboard vessels is a serious international problem, is universally condemned, and presents a specific threat to the security and societal well-being of the United States and (2) operating or embarking in a submersible vessel or semi-submersible vessel without nationality and on an international voyage is a serious international problem, facilitates transnational crime, including drug trafficking, and terrorism, and presents a specific threat to the safety of maritime navigation and the security of the United States. Title 46 further provides that such offenses may be prosecuted in any United States federal district court.

The case was investigated by the United States Coast Guard, and the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney George F. May.