Former Colombian Navy Personnel Extradited to U.S. on Drug Trafficking Charges
Two former members of the Colombian Navy have been extradited to the United States to face charges related to an alleged conspiracy to aid international drug traffickers, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
Jair Alberto Alvarez Valenzuela, 54, and Luis Carlos Diaz Martinez, 32, were transported from Colombia to the United States on March 13, 2025. They are accused of participating in a scheme to sell the locations of Colombian Navy drug interdiction vessels to drug traffickers, allegedly helping them evade law enforcement.
Prosecutors allege that Alvarez Valenzuela and Diaz Martinez recruited active-duty Colombian Navy personnel to secretly plant GPS tracking devices on Navy vessels. Criminal organizations then used the data to avoid detection while transporting cocaine to the United States, authorities said.
The two men have been charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine with reasonable cause to believe it would be unlawfully imported into the U.S. If convicted, they could face a maximum sentence of life in federal prison.
The case is part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, a multi-agency effort aimed at dismantling transnational criminal organizations involved in drug trafficking, money laundering, and related crimes. The investigation involved agents from multiple federal agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Department of Homeland Security.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs and the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section’s Office of the Judicial Attaché in Bogotá, Colombia, assisted in securing the arrests and extraditions. The prosecution is being led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Stoia.
An indictment is a formal charge and does not imply guilt. Alvarez Valenzuela and Diaz Martinez are presumed innocent until proven otherwise in a court of law.