TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — An international drug trafficker was sentenced in Tampa to almost 20 years in federal prison after he smuggled $82 million worth of cocaine on a self-propelled semi-submersible near French Polynesia last year.
According to court documents, 67-year-old Vicente Lopez Mero of Ecuador and four co-conspirators smuggled cocaine in the Eastern Pacific Ocean aboard a self-propelled semi-submersible vessel. The vessel was configured for transporting large quantities of narcotics in its interior cargo hold.
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Officials said guardsmen from the United States Coast Guard’s Legend-class cutter intercepted the semi-submersible in international waters north of French Polynesia on Oct. 24, 2024.
The Coast Guard said it seized 3,749 kilograms of cocaine, worth approximately $82 million.
Officials said Lopez Mero pleaded guilty on March 26. He was sentenced to 19 years and 6 months in federal prison for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute cocaine on a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States…