International Money Launderer And Cocaine Trafficker Extradited To The United States For Conspiring To Import Cocaine And Laundering Money Through The Black Market

Tampa, FL – United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announces the unsealing of an indictment charging Diego Fernando Cardona Lozano (43, Cali, Colombia), a/k/a “El Doctor” and “Pomada,” with conspiracy to commit international money laundering and conspiracy to import at least five kilograms of cocaine into the United States. If convicted on all counts, Cardona Lozano faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. The United States has also notified Cardona Lozano that it seeks the forfeiture of proceeds traceable to the charged offenses, approximately $1.4 million.

According to the superseding indictment, Cardona Lozano conspired to import at least five kilograms of cocaine, knowing that the drugs would be imported into the United States. Cardona Lozano is further charged with conspiring to launder the proceeds of the drug trafficking by using the Black Market Peso Exchange, a financial structure used by drug cartels in Colombia to exchange currencies.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Panama Express Strike Force, an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) comprised of agents and analysts from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the U.S. Southern Command's Joint Interagency Task Force South. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and those primarily responsible for the nation’s drug supply. The Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Marshals Service provided assistance with the extradition process. The case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dan Baeza.