A former leader of a Honduran drug cartel was sentenced by American authorities to federal prison on charges of trafficking thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the U.S.
Noe Montes-Bobadilla, 35, was handed a 37-year prison sentence by U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady for the Eastern District of Virginia. Court documents filed by the Department of Justice state that Montes-Bodadilla was the kingpin of the Honduras-based “Los Montes” drug cartel.
The thousands of shipments trafficked through the country put the cartel among the most powerful in Central America, serving as the central trafficking point for Colombian cocaine imports heading to the U.S. via Mexico.
“Montes-Bobadilla was a violent leader of one of the largest drug-trafficking organizations in Honduras,” said U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger in a Justice Department statement issued Friday.
The court documents say that Montes-Bobadilla and his associates paid off law enforcement and government officials throughout Central America to transport the cocaine shipments by boat and roads. It also pins a vast number of violent acts, including kidnappings and murders, on the organization headed by Montes-Bobadilla.
The announcement by the Justice Department comes amid ongoing efforts by the administration to combat illegal immigration and crime, including drug trafficking, at the southern border.
The State Department announced this week it would cut aid to the “Northern Triangle” countries in Central America — El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala — whose citizens make up many of the caravans that have traveled north with the intention of claiming asylum at the U.S. border.
President Trump threatened to close the southern border with Mexico, citing congressional inaction in authorizing the funding necessary for border security. Trump is keeping “all options on the table” in regards to securing the southern border with Mexico, a White House official said on this week, reinforcing Trump’s threats earlier this week to close the border if more isn’t done to stop illegal immigration.
Trump told reporters Tuesday that the U.S. will either have a “strong border” or a “closed border.”
