In a case that threatened to reveal shady interactions between U.S. cocaine Enforcement Administration agents and their informants, a Colombian customs official acknowledged on Tuesday that he had accepted bribes and channeled over $1 million in cocaine proceeds.
On the second day of his trial in federal court in Tampa, Florida, Omar Ambuila unexpectedly entered a guilty plea to a single count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
In 2023, Ambuila, 63, was extradited from Colombia to the United States. At sentencing in April, he could receive a sentence of up to 20 years in jail.
It was anticipated that the hearings will provide fresh insight into a controversy that led to the punishment or termination of over a dozen federal agents for various misdeeds committed during DEA money laundering investigations conducted worldwide.
Jose Irizarry, a notoriously dishonest DEA agent who was serving a lengthy federal prison sentence for his involvement in a closely similar money laundering plot, was one of the witnesses the government invited to testify.
Ambuila was initially suspected by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Internal Revenue Service because his daughter shared pictures of herself driving a $330,000 red Lamborghini, carrying fancy purses, and going on lavish trips to Paris.
Jenny Ambuila commented, “People assume that because they can’t make it, you can’t make it either,” posting a picture of the Lamborghini on Facebook in May 2017. “Prove them wrong.”
The 20-something University of Miami graduate’s extravagant, idyllic lifestyle was in stark contrast to both her modest income as a social media influencer and her father’s income of roughly $2,000 per month as a mid-level supervisor in Buenaventura, Colombia’s main port and a major transit hub for cocaine headed to the United States.
A portion of the money used to purchase the Lamborghini Huracan Spyder in 2016 came from an account owned by Jhon Marin, who was identified at the trial by an IRS criminal investigator as the nephew of a “known contraband smuggler in Colombia” who lived in Florida.
Diego Marin, a longtime DEA informant who investigators have dubbed Colombia’s “Contraband King” for allegedly laundering money through imported appliances and other commodities, was previously identified as the smuggler.
According to a wealth of government documents, Marin was formerly a source for U.S. law enforcement but was later deactivated and run “off the books” by federal operatives.
According to the documents, DEA officers allegedly targeted Marin and then partied with him all over the world for years, with Marin often paying for the sex workers and dinners.
Although Marin has not been accused in the United States, Colombian authorities asked for his extradition from Spain, where he was residing, last year so that he might be charged with a crime.
In a surprising move, Colombian President Gustavo Petro discussed the matter with his Spanish counterpart and used social media to characterize Marin as the nation’s primary “contraband smuggler and drug money launderer.”
However, despite opposing extradition, Marin, a Spanish national, was released on bail. After that, he allegedly ran away and was apprehended in Portugal, where he is still detained.
Irizarry, who is currently serving a 12-year term for his crimes, told how Marin paid Colombian officials for years and gave tickets, lavish lunches, and prostitutes to U.S. anti-drug agents in an attempt to evade prosecution.
In a similar statement to federal investigators, he said that DEA officers had fabricated official documents regarding Marin in order to support reckless foreign travel.
After Irizzary was sentenced in 2021, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram stated, “Irizzary repeatedly violated his oath as a federal law enforcement officer, abusing the trust of the American people.”
The case of Irizarry brought to light the DEA’s ongoing use of so-called Attorney General Exempted Operations to launder tens of millions of dollars annually through shell corporations on behalf of the most dangerous drug gangs in the world.
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The AGEOs are a powerful instrument that has produced numerous high-level arrests and cocaine seizures, according to agents.
However, the DEA has also come under fire for failing to closely monitor and follow the stings, which makes it challenging to assess their effectiveness, and for letting large sums of money involved in the operations remain unseized, allowing cartels to carry on with their business.
Despite decades of fighting the cartels, Colombia continues to be the world’s top producer of cocaine.
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Ambuila remained emotionless in a federal court in Tampa on Tuesday as U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Hernandez-Covington voiced her displeasure at the significant sum of money the U.S. Justice Department spent on trial preparations that were abandoned after only two days.
Prosecutors under Joseph Palazzo had presented Ambuila with a plea deal as late as this month, suggesting a time-served sentence.
