A man whom prosecutors say led a major drug trafficking organization that moved multi-ton shipments of cocaine out of South America for eventual importation into the United States was sentenced in San Diego federal court Friday to nearly 22 years in prison.
Josue Adan Lemus-Lara, 39, of Esquipulas, Guatemala, ran South American operations for an organization that transported cocaine to Mexican counterparts, including members of the Sinaloa Cartel, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors say that over the course of five days in 2017, Lemus- Lara’s organization sent out four vessels from South America to Guatemala, each of which carried more than 1,500 pounds of cocaine.
Lemus-Lara was arrested in 2019 by Colombian authorities and extradited to the U.S. in late 2020.
He was convicted by a jury last year and sentenced Friday to 260 months in prison.
Lemus-Lara’s brother, William Lemus-Lara, was also a high-level member of the organization. He was sentenced last year in San Diego federal court to 17 years and six months in prison.
