Crime

First of 11 Defendants in 2019 Cocaine Bust at Sea Off St. Croix Pleads Guilty

ST. CROIX — United States Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert has announced that 33-year old Venezuelan national Johan Garcia Suarez, one of eleven Venezuelan nationals apprehended at sea off of St. Croix, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute over 5 kilograms of cocaine while on board a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. According to court documents, on the evening of September 25, 2019, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Cutter Donald Horsley intercepted a suspicious 55-foot vessel named La Gran Tormenta displaying Venezuelan nationality indicia approximately 38 nautical miles south of St. Croix. Occupants of the vessel did not reply to USCG efforts to engage in questioning of the crew, and upon detection, the La Gran Tormenta changed course and jettisoned packages. USCG Cutter Donald Horsley crew members subsequently retrieved two bales from the water. The two jettisoned bales contained packages with brick shaped objects, w...