NEW YORK, N.Y. – A Venezuelan cocaine trafficker with deep political and military connections has been sentenced to life plus 30 years in federal prison for leading one of the largest narcotics smuggling operations ever prosecuted in the United States, federal authorities announced Monday.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Carlos Orense Azocar, a longtime cartel leader linked to Venezuelan government and military officials, was convicted in December 2023 of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and related weapons offenses. U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick imposed the sentence following a two-week trial that detailed a sprawling international operation responsible for moving hundreds of tons of cocaine across the Western Hemisphere.
“Carlos Orense Azocar is one of the most prolific cocaine traffickers ever sentenced in this courthouse,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “He and his co-conspirators, including high-ranking government and military officials, inflicted incalculable damage on this community. Alongside our partners at the DEA, we are committed to ending the exploitation of the American people by drug cartels and the governments who enable them.”
DEA Administrator Terrance C. Cole said Orense Azocar’s operation flourished through corruption and intimidation. “He was a criminal kingpin who built an empire on deception, fraud, and bribery,” Cole said. “His close ties to the Venezuelan government helped him evade law enforcement and move massive shipments of cocaine across the Western Hemisphere. Today’s sentence sends a clear message: DEA will relentlessly pursue and hold international drug traffickers accountable.”
Prosecutors said Orense Azocar’s criminal enterprise began around 2003, when he established distribution routes moving multi-ton cocaine shipments from Venezuela to Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and other destinations using air and maritime smuggling networks. He operated a series of fortified ranches in Venezuela, where cocaine was stored in underground tanks alongside hundreds of weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition.
The drug lord also worked closely with corrupt Venezuelan officials, including senior military officers, police commissioners, and intelligence agents, who provided cover for his operations. These connections allegedly granted him access to military-grade weapons, fraudulent flight transponder codes, and safe passage for his cocaine convoys through checkpoints and ports.
Investigators said Orense Azocar’s network used “go-fast” boats to move shipments from Venezuela to the Caribbean, including routes near Puerto Rico, and partnered with guerrilla groups in Colombia and Venezuela to protect and source his cocaine supplies.
To maintain control, he employed heavily armed security teams, traveled in armored vehicles, and relied on military and police escorts. His organization stockpiled automatic rifles, submachine guns, and even a .50-caliber mounted machine gun to defend his narcotics shipments and operations.
Federal authorities said Orense Azocar made tens of millions of dollars through the drug trade while using his government connections to evade capture for years.
A Venezuelan cartel leader with government ties was sentenced in New York to life plus 30 years for trafficking hundreds of tons of cocaine into the United States.
