DAY TEN: Trial Against Honduran Drug Trafficker, Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez
/What Happened Today
Concluding statements
Jury began to deliberate
Key Details That Surfaced
An entire summary of the government’s evidence and case against GFR and the defense’s rebuttal.
What Will Happen Tomorrow
On Monday, the jury will continue to deliberate
Picture: Pro-honduras network
More Details
Prosecutor’s Concluding Statement
There is overwhelming evidence that Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez (GFR) produced, manufactured, and trafficked tons of cocaine to the US using weapons and violence. He had a cocaine lab in the hills outside of his home that was protected by armed men. He bought and paid politicians and cops. He used handguns, assault rifles and grenade launchers to do this.
How GFR Got Started
GFR didn’t start out as a multi-ton drug trafficker. How did he make that rise happen? He partnered with drug cartels. He bought those he could and murdered those he couldn’t.
Over the course of this trial, you learned that GFR got started by partnering with Metro [Melvin Sanders, his former business associated, now deceased] to sell kilos of cocaine in Miami. Metro is a cousin of the Rivera Maradiagas, the leaders of one of the most powerful cartels in Honduras. GFR and Sanders, a drug trafficker, a hit man, and someone that obtained hit man for others, were partners.
In 2000s, they sent small quantities of cocaine to Miami. I say relatively small because each kilogram has 8,000 doses. These aren’t small quantities.
When the work in Miami fell through, in approximately 2010, Metro and GFR started a drug lab outside their hometown of Choloma.
But they needed to buy cocaine base and GFR needed money to get the lab up and running to produce cocaine and also, to make more money.
GFR used boats to bring base into Honduras for the drug lab and later, gave those boats to his drug trafficking partners.
For every thousand kilos of cocaine, the price of the cocaine by the border is $12,000 to $16,000. Because of these prices, the drug lab was important for GFR.
How We Know GFR’s Drug Lab Existed
The defense will explain that GFR didn’t have anything to do with the lab. But there is no dispute that he had control of the lab and had a coffee plantation there.
GFR told Leonel Rivera Maradiaga about the lab inside his car at Rivera Maradiaga’s gas station. GFR described the lab, how it was protected and he asked Rivera Maradiaga to help pay for the lab and cocaine base from South America.
GFR told Rivera Maradiaga about the lab, about the police investigation and about the raid of the lab. Because of corrupt police contacts, GFR knew about the raid and when it happened so no drugs were found.
GFR told Rivera Maradiaga again about the lab when he told him about the police he murdered – tortured and executed.
GFR, Metro and hit man found the police officer, kidnapped him, tortured him, and while the officer pleaded for his life, they killed him.
The murder wasn’t just about revenge. GFT had been tipped off – he did this for information. He wanted to know if Fuad Jarufe’s involvement had been uncovered. It hadn’t and GFR was happy because the man that had bankrolled his drug trafficking was in the clear.
Javier Choloma [Javier Hernandez Mejía, a former Honduran government treasurer, accused of money laundering in Honduras] told GFR that even though he had closed one investigation into the lab, there was a second investigation in the capital. To protect his assets, GFR and Metro used Javier Choloma to hide/protect the business.
Jose Sanchez knew about the drug lab. Jarufe had instructed Sanchez to go to the lab and deliver money. Both times, armed security (not coffee farmers) stopped him at the gate, just like GFR explained to Rivera Maradiaga that men with AK47s guarded the lab.
Two things happened after the raid:
1. GFR laid low: After the raid, GFR wasn’t seen for a month. Witness Medina mentioned this.
2. When GFR returned from lying low, he returned because he found a way out. He killed his way out of the first (killed the police officer leading investigation) and he bribed his way out of the second (through Julio César Barahona of the Judiciary Council). Barahona travelled to help GFR. He paid Barahona $30,000 bribe.
GFR’s Involvement with President Juan Orlando Hernandez
GFR partnered with Presidential candidate Juan Orlando Hernandez and his brother, Tony Hernandez (TH). In 2013, JOH was President of Congress. He was also the man that appointed Barahona as head of Honduran court system. JOH was running for President and could reap enormous bribes. Rivera Maradiaga talked about paying bribes to JOH, Porfirio Lobo, Mel Zelaya and to Ricardo Alvarez.
GFR used a page out of the playbook and used Jarufe for protection.
GFR gave President JOH $15,000 in cash, but JOH also wanted access to his cocaine lab. Access to the drug lab, which was located close to Puerto Cortés, would allow JOH to export through the port. The lab was worth millions that way. So GFR said he would give JOH access.
Tony and Juan Orlando Hernandez became GFR’s drug partners.
TH ran drugs for JOH. They accepted bribes from Los Cachiros.
GFR said he wanted Los Cachiros to invest in the lab but they didn’t, so they found other partners like Chepito Handal [a drug trafficker in the department of Cortés], TH and JOH.
GFR’s Work With Los Cachiros
The defendant wanted to work with Los Cachiros by running shipments of cocaine and finding hit man.
In approximately 2009 and 2010, Metro started pitching to his cousins (the Rivera Maradiagas) and his corrupt police contacts.
Drugs were brought in from boats and then had to be moved to where the Valles were located near the Guatemalan border. The drugs needed to be protected. They were transported in cattle trucks and protected by armed men.
Using Honduran Police to Protect His Drug Trafficking
(Show picture of Police Commissioner Martinez with JOH on the screen). GFR worked with dirty cops, including one of the highest-ranking police in Honduras.
He worked with Martinez to ship drugs
Police Commissioner’s LinkedIn page shows that he had been Director of Finance for the Honduran police and had taken courses on “best police practices.” He could protect GFR with a single phone call.
Corroborating Testimony With Evidence from GFR’s Phone
What Rivera Maradiaga said is true, because the evidence (pictures, chats, instructions, etc) from GFR shows us that.
Police Commissioner Martinez warned GFR about being subject to monitoring. Another contact told GFR to stop talking crap on his phone.
There were police and military contacts on GFR’s phone. Some of those contacts were made through Metro, who got his nickname because of his close relationship to the Metropolitan Police. Other contacts were dirty cops in San Pedro Sula.
The defendant’s phone had police contacts – both the Sauceda brothers who he met in Fuad Jarufe’s office.
He had military contacts. He was given a green AR15 rifle from his military friend. GFR bragged about this.
GFR’s son had pictures that matched the description.
GFR also had uniforms, handcuffs, and we know that because it was on his phone.
He received a gift from 105 Brigade. Rene Ponce Fonseca was head of that brigade and would later become head of anti-drug team on north coast of Honduras.
GFR had these contacts because he used them. He used them to protect his cocaine. He pitched these contacts to Los Cachiros in order to work with them and help him with his drug business.
Murders and Crimes That GFR Participated In
He didn’t just rely on dirty cops and military, GFR also relied on his own savagery.
Look at what happened to the mechanic: GFR saw an opportunity to impress Los Cachiros. He called his police contact, had the boat mechanic arrested, and murdered him. He took a picture of the dead mechanic and treated it like a job interview.
He was proud of it, bragged about it, and like Metro said: “would do anything” and soon enough started working with Los Cachiros and also started working with other large drug cartels.
The Three Drug Shipments
GFR protected 3 large drug shipments, 1. Approximately 425 to 530 drug shipment taken from El Tigre ranch to the Guatemalan border, 2. A drug shipment of 500 to 570 kilograms that landed on a ranch near Tocoa, 3. 425 to 525 shipment sent by Jack.
GFR used heavy duty weapons to transport.
He wanted to be the one selling and buying for himself. He used boats to bring cocaine base to be processed but also, bought finished cocaine.
Working With the Sinaloa Cartel
GFR wasn’t just working with Los Cachiros but also the Sinaloa cartel headed by El Chapo and El Chapo’s cousin Juanito”
GFR helped transport a 500 kilo shipment to the Sinaloa cartel and then 5000 kilos then 3,000 kilos. All of this cocaine was destined for the US through Mexican cartels.
Conflict With Los Cachiros
By this time, GFR wasn’t doing small drug trafficking. There came a time when he asked Rivera Maradiaga for a loan to buy a big shipment from Colombia.
Rivera Maradiaga didn’t give him the loan, so GFR got mad and tried to have him killed.
GFR and Metro hired Vaquero to kill. “Pluto” couldn’t sell the cocaine they supplied because it was wet, so defendant hired Vaquero to kill Pluto.
This was just part of a string of murders – the mechanic, the police officer, and the two hit man that had killed Metro’s brother
After Pluto’s murder, Vaquero told Rivera Maradiaga about the plan to have Rivera Maradiaga killed. So Rivera Maradiaga asked Vaquero to kill GFR and Metro. Vaquero took armed men to Metro’s house and killed him but GFR was a harder target. After Vaquero couldn’t kill GFR, Rivera Maradiaga and GFR spoke and called a truce.
Shortly after, Rivera Maradiaga started cooperating with the DEA.
GFR’s Relationship With Businessman Fuad Jarufe
GFR partnered with Jarufe, who acted as a money laundering and personal bank.
US dollars from drug trafficking are no good unless you can launder them. So GFR brought large quantities to Jarufe at a time. He was the only person he laundered money for, and he used his company to launder money. Sanchez knew this right away and acknowledged that he knew it was money laundering.
The defense might say that GFR is just a biomass businessman but you know they have to launder drug money. They used the same model that Rivera Maradiaga used. GFR took a page from Los Cachiros’ play book.
Jarufe gave GFR land in Cerro Negro. GFR killed the police officer investigating the land in order to protect Jarufe.
Partnership with President Juan Orlando Hernandez and the Drug Lab
The partnership started when JOH was running for President and also involved his brother, TH.
The defense council might argue that it was shut down after the raid. But it’s not true it was shut down.
No drugs were seized
The police officer was dead
And the head of the Honduran court system was bribed.
Another reason that the lab wasn’t shut down, is that there was too much money to be made.
GFR still had the drug lab. He still had a partnership with Chepe Handal and with the Sinaloa cartel. The supplies from Colombia were still there and he had an agreement with JOH and TH to continue the lab.
One more reason GFR didn’t stop was because would do the same thing after 2013, 2014, and as recently as 2019, 1 year before his arrest. He continued to meet with and pay bribes to JOH.
When he saw Rivera Maradiaga in prison, GFR told him about meetings with JOH as late as 2019, and also meetings with military sent on JOH’s request.
You know that TH was arrested and the information about JOH was made public.
On May 28, 2019, the defendant was going to the Presidential Palace in Tegucigalpa, repeatedly and went other places including to the Ministry of Economic Development.
Again in June 2019, shortly after more public filings were made, GFR was keeping close tabs on the case against TH, a co-conspirator.
Continuing His Crimes
A few other reasons you know he continued his crimes:
His phone: GFR didn’t have a list of contacts of humble businessman. He had the President of his country and the Vice President’s cell phone. He had the cell phone of the regional head of the anti-drug task force.
2. GFR’s admissions in his arrest video. A) He admitted to knowing Vaquero, to knowing he is a hit man that had threatened his own family. He said they had a dispute, B) GFR said he knew Pluto and that he was a drug trafficker, C) He knew Chepe Handal, 4) Metro and Los Cachiros: He said that Metro introduced him to Los Cachiros.
You will hear arguments from the defense council. Examine these arguments looking at the evidence and using your common sense. The defense will tell you not to be believe the evidence or the witness. They will ask you to conclude that Rivera Maradiaga lied. But that doesn’t make sense. It makes sense that Rivera Maradiaga has cooperated extensively. Rivera Maradiaga has given information about the President, Congress, police, cartel leaders and testified in other cases.
The defense will tell you that Jose Sanchez is lying. But he didn’t want to flee his country.
We have provided you with evidence to show how GFR is guilty of the three charges:
1. Conspiratory to violate narcotics laws
2. Firearms offense
3. Conspiracy to commit firearms offense.