A Colombian man, Alejandro Parra Bustamante, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for his role in a conspiracy to traffic more than 450 kilograms of cocaine into the United States. Court documents state that Parra Bustamante, 45, was a senior member of the Shottas and Clan de Bustamante organizations. These groups are recognized as major drug trafficking networks based in Buenaventura, Colombia, a key seaport used for shipping cocaine to Central America, Mexico, and the United States.
Between March 2019 and March 2021, Parra Bustamante led an operation to sell between 500 and 1,000 kilograms of cocaine to buyers in the U.S. During this period, about 15 kilograms of cocaine samples were sent to Tucson, Arizona.
Parra Bustamante was indicted in May 2021 and extradited from Colombia to the United States in August 2023. He pleaded guilty on February 6 to one count of conspiracy to traffic cocaine before a federal judge in the District of Columbia. His co-conspirator, Jorge Eliecer Florez Alvarez, received a sentence of over eight years (102 months) on October 16.
“Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Acting Special Agent in Charge Ray Rede for Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) in Arizona made the announcement.”
The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The prosecution was handled by Trial Attorneys Colleen King and Roger Polack from the Justice Department’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section. The Office of International Affairs at the Justice Department coordinated with Colombian law enforcement agencies for Parra Bustamante's arrest and extradition.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America. The initiative brings together resources from various agencies within the Department of Justice to combat illegal immigration and target cartels and transnational criminal organizations.
