Philippines National Arrested on Federal Criminal Complaint Charging Him with Importing Quarter Ton of Cocaine from Ecuador

LOS ANGELES - A Philippines man has been arrested on a federal criminal complaint charging him with smuggling 227 kilograms (500 pounds) of cocaine on an oil tanker inbound from Ecuador to El Segundo, narcotics that were intended to be delivered to a Mexican drug cartel, the Justice Department announced today.

Ceasar Tubay Gelacio, Jr., 43, of The Philippines, is charged with importation of a controlled substance.

He was arrested Thursday, and he is scheduled to make his initial appearance this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, earlier this month, law enforcement was notified that the Greek-owned and Liberian-flagged oil tanker Aquatravesia, whose last port of call was Ecuador, was inbound to the United States carrying kilogram quantities of drugs intended to be delivered to a Mexican cartel.

Crew members discovered numerous packages hidden inside the ship's garbage room that contained suspected narcotics. The ship's captain interviewed the crew and discovered that Gelacio possessed the drugs. The captain then secured the narcotics in a different room inside the ship.

The captain was informed that while the Aquatravesia was in Mexican waters, small naval crafts with armed Mexican cartel members would be waiting 80 nautical miles from the shore on the evening of May 14 and the early morning of May 15. If the drugs were not delivered at this time, additional crafts would be waiting in Mexican waters to board the oil tanker and recover the contraband.

The captain also reported receiving what he believed were radio calls from the cartel attempting to hail the Aquatravesia prior to a boarding or takeover.

U.S. law enforcement directed the Aquatravesia to navigate the ship to the combined port of Los Angeles and Long Beach, where it would board the oil tanker. The ship anchored in the directed area on Thursday.

Once on board, law enforcement recovered approximately 227 kilograms of cocaine. Law enforcement learned that Gelacio possessed the cocaine inside the ship, had received the drugs in Ecuador, and intended to distribute them to another party while the boat was traveling past Mexico.

A complaint is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted, Gelacio would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison.

Homeland Security Investigations and the United States Coast Guard are investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Monika L. Hara of the General Crimes Section is prosecuting this case.