Yaidel Placido Salvador, a 40-year-old resident of Cuba, was sentenced on April 8 after pleading guilty to charges related to conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. Placido received a sentence of 120 months in prison, five years of supervised release, and a $200 mandatory special assessment fee.
Court documents show that Placido and other co-conspirators distributed and possessed multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine within the Eastern District of Louisiana. He transported kilogram amounts of cocaine into the district as part of the conspiracy.
The prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The task force is described as a whole-of-government partnership aimed at eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling operations in the United States and abroad. According to officials, it emphasizes investigating crimes involving children and uses all available tools to prosecute violent criminal aliens.
The case was investigated by several agencies including the Drug Enforcement Administration – New Orleans Field Division Office; Federal Bureau of Investigation; United States Border Patrol; Gretna Major Crimes Task Force; Kenner Police Department; Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office; St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office; and Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Lynn E. Schiffman led the prosecution.
This investigation took place under Operation Take Back America—a nationwide federal initiative coordinated by joint operations from both the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security. The operation aims to combat illegal immigration, eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect communities from violent crime.
