High-Ranking Honduran Drug Cartel Member Sentenced to 21 Years

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Honduran national was sentenced today to 21 years in prison for conspiring to import cocaine into the United States.

According to court documents, Mario Rojel Urbina Miranda, 41, was one of the highest-ranking members of an international drug trafficking organization based in Honduras known as the “Los Valles” Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO), which imported multi-ton quantities of cocaine from to the United States.

For years, Urbina was responsible for coordinating the trafficking of tons of cocaine through Honduras, en route to the United States from South America, and for the collection of millions of dollars of drug proceeds. For example, during just a two-month period in 2014, the defendant was personally involved in trafficking over 2,000 kilograms of cocaine through Honduras. More broadly, the DTO bribed public officials in Honduras and relied on violence and the threat of violence to protect its extensive trafficking activity. Urbina is the thirteenth related defendant to plead guilty in this investigation.

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Washington Division; and David Geist, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal Division, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis, III.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Alito and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Bibeane Metsch prosecuted the case.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia expresses its appreciation to the Virginia State Police, FBI Sacramento Field Office, the Sacramento OCDETF Strike Force, DEA and FBI Tegucigalpa Country Offices, and the Honduran National Police for their significant assistance in this case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs also provided significant assistance.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:14-cr-135.