A 43-year-old man pleaded guilty Monday, July 13, after prosecutors accused him of taking nearly 200 kilograms of cocaine hidden in trash bags on an oil tanker headed from Ecuador to El Segundo, according to federal officials.
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Ceasar Tubay Gelacio Jr. of the Philippines pleaded guilty to knowingly bringing cocaine on a vessel entering the United States, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Prosecutors allege Gelacio was a seaman on the Aquatravesia oil tanker in May when the ship stopped in Ecuador and Gelacio made an agreement with an unknown person to hide cocaine on the vessel.
Gelacio concealed about 195 kilograms of cocaine, which were found in trash bags in the oil tanker’s garbage space on May 21, when the ship traveled near ports in Long Beach and Los Angeles, federal officials said.
Gelacio told fellow crew members who found the cocaine that he got the drugs in Ecuador and planned to give them to cartels while the ship was traveling past Mexico, according to a criminal complaint.
The ship’s captain interviewed crew and learned that Gelacio confessed to bringing the cocaine aboard. After discovering the cocaine, the captain disabled the ship’s satellite internet so crew couldn’t communicate outside the ship and secured the drugs in a safe room, according to the criminal complaint.
The captain told federal investigators that he changed the ship’s course after learning about the cocaine because of worries that Mexican cartel ships might try to board the Aquatravesia and get the drugs if Gelacio didn’t deliver them as intended, according to the criminal complaint.
Gelacio told officials on the ship that he tried to return the drugs and didn’t want to complete the transaction but said the drug smugglers in Ecuador threatened him, according to the complaint.
Federal officials directed the vessel to head to the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach, where members of the U.S. Coast Guard boarded the ship and found the trash bags of cocaine, court documents said.
Gelacio has been in custody since May. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 19, and he could face 10 years to life in prison.
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