MIAMI – A Colombian drug kingpin was sentenced Monday to 31 years in prison for drug trafficking.
A jury in Miami found Henry de Jesus Lopez Londono, 47, guilty of conspiring to distribute over 5 kilograms of cocaine with the knowledge that it would be unlawfully imported into the U.S.
Lopez Londono was ordered to be on supervised release for five years after his release.
According to a news release from the Drug Enforcement Administration, evidence presented at the six-week trial, as well as testimony from multiple co-conspirators, proved that Lopez Londono, also known as "Mi Sangre" (My Blood), was a leader of Colombia's Urabenos -- one of the largest and most dangerous drug cartels in the world.
Authorities said Lopez Londono helped distribute more than 60,000 kilograms of cocaine from Colombia to Central America, Mexico and the U.S.
Authorities said the gang leader attempted to cooperate with law enforcement at one point, but became the target of an investigation after he was caught lying, continuing to distribute drugs and "committing acts of violence."
The prosecution of Lopez Londono was part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force's Operation Golden Eagle, a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
The investigation was conducted by the DEA Miami Field Division, the DEA Bogota Country Office, the DEA Buenos Aires Country Office, the governments of Colombia and Argentina, the Criminal Division's Office of International Affairs, the Office of the Judicial Attaché in Colombia and the U.S. State Department.
The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida.
