An indictment was filed today against Norlan Jose Carrasco Lopez, a citizen of Catracho, Honduras, charged with international cocaine trafficking. He will appear in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on October 17.
According to court documents, between September 2018 and June 2021, Carrasco Lopez, 54, was allegedly a member of an international drug trafficking organization responsible for importing large quantities of cocaine from Venezuela to Belize on US-registered aircraft. Foreign law enforcement intercepted a shipment of more than 1,000 kilograms of cocaine, transported on a US-registered aircraft allegedly coordinated by Carrasco Lopez and his co-conspirators.
A District of Columbia grand jury returned an indictment against Carrasco Lopez on June 28, 2021. In June 2022, Carrasco López was arrested by Honduran authorities, pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant requested by the United States, and remained in detention in Honduras. his extradition He was extradited from Honduras to the United States on October 13.
Carrasco Lopez is charged with one count of conspiracy to possess five kilograms or more of cocaine on a United States-registered aircraft and one count of distribution of a controlled substance on a United States-registered aircraft. If convicted on both counts, the defendant faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum prison sentence. A federal district court judge will decide any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Orlando District Office is investigating with the assistance of the DEA Honduras and Belize Country Offices and the Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) Orlando District Office.
Trial attorney Douglas Meisel and the Criminal Division’s Dangerous Drugs and Narcotics Section (NDDS) are prosecuting the case. Former NDDS Trial Attorney Michael Christin, now in the Criminal Division’s Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section, assisted in the prosecution. The Department of Justice’s Bureau of International Affairs provided valuable assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of Carrasco Lopez. The Criminal Division’s Office of Enforcement Operations and Belizean law enforcement also provided significant assistance.
An indictment is just an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
