TAMPA, Fla. – A Honduran national who orchestrated a sophisticated international drug trafficking network was sentenced to 17 years and six months in federal prison by a Tampa judge this week. Rosbin Leonardo Duarte-Elvir, 43, must also forfeit $5 million in illegal profits following his conviction for conspiring to import cocaine into the United States.
U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced the sentence, handed down by U.S. District Judge William F. Jung, following Duarte-Elvir’s guilty plea in December 2025.
Court documents reveal a sprawling conspiracy that relied on deep-seated corruption within South American infrastructure. Operating through 2024, Duarte-Elvir’s organization moved thousands of kilograms of cocaine by bribing airport security supervisors and at least 20 Colombian police officers. The group used commercial aircraft to fly drugs out of Cali, Colombia, often hiding the narcotics inside boxes of fruit…