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Mariano Enrique Arroyo Perez, 29, took a deal from the government rather than risk a trial, pleading guilty Tuesday in federal court in Newark to conspiring to distribute five or more kilos of coke, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said.
The conspiracy unraveled after four men not on the manifest boarded a private Teterboro-bound plane in Puerto Rico with "particularly heavy" luggage, raising the pilots' suspicions, Honig said.
Investigators learned that Arroyo Perez -- also known as "Humilde" -- coordinated the shipment, the U.S. attorney said. They also collected wiretapped conversations in which he and a conspirator discussed the plot while sharing the passengers' names, she said.
Wiretaps picked up Arroyo Perez and a conspirator discussing the Nov. 18, 2018 while sharing the names of the four passengers, Honig said.
Overall, Arroyo Perez and his conspirators conspired to move more than a quarter-ton of cocaine from 2017 through July 2019, she said.
Honig credited special agents and task force officers with the Drug Enforcement Administration in New Jersey, as well as special agents and task force officers with the Drug Enforcement Administration in Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
She also thanked the U.S. Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Marshals Service for their assistance.
The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Repole of Honig's Economic Crimes Unit and Assistant U.S. Attorney Francesca Liquori, the chief of her Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), both in Newark.
U.S. District Judge Esther Salas scheduled sentencing for April 21, 2022.
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