Two Colombian Nationals Extradited from Colombia to West Michigan to Face Cocaine Trafficking Charges

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN - U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Timothy VerHey today announced that two Colombian nationals made their initial appearance in a federal court in Grand Rapids on Friday after they were extradited to the United States on Thursday.

According to the indictment, from November 2024 through June 24, 2025, Carlos Andres Rueda Ipia, also known as "Indio," and Manuel Augusto Munoz Orozco, also known as "Gordo," conspired with each other and other individuals to distribute and import five kilograms or more of cocaine into the United States from Colombia, and on March 13, 2025, distributed five kilograms or more of cocaine in Colombia, having reasonable cause to believe that the cocaine would be unlawfully imported into the United States.

"We worked with our international law enforcement partners to extradite these two men to face justice here because we want to send this message: if you send drugs into our community, we will come for you no matter where you are," said U.S. Attorney Timothy VerHey. "I look forward to proving the guilt of these two defendants before a West Michigan jury."

If convicted, Rueda Ipia and Munoz Orozco face a mandatory minimum of ten years and up to life in prison.

"Let this be a warning, if you choose to traffic cocaine into the United States, you should expect to be hunted down, arrested, and brought into an American courtroom-no matter where you try to hide," said DEA Detroit Division Special Agent in Charge Joseph O. Dixon. "The DEA will relentlessly pursue transnational drug traffickers, dismantle their criminal enterprises, and ensure they face the full weight of the American justice system."

"Drug trafficking on this scale crosses jurisdictions and international borders, and working with our federal and international partners is necessary to hold those responsible accountable," said Kent County Sheriff's Office Undersheriff Bryan Muir. "Having a KCSO detective assigned to the DEA Task Force gives us a direct role in these investigations, improves information sharing, and helps keep dangerous drugs out of West Michigan."

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is investigating the case, with domestic assistance from the Kent County Sheriff's Office, the Grand Rapids Police Department, and the Michigan State Police, as well as international assistance from DEA's Offices in Bogota (Colombia) and Vienna (Austria), the Colombian National Police, the Austrian Bundeskriminalamt, and the Austrian Landeskriminalamt. The U.S. Attorney's Office and the Justice Department's Judicial Attaché in Bogotá and Office of International Affairs worked with the government of Colombia to secure the arrest and extradition of the defendants from Colombia. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan McGraw is prosecuting the case.

This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historical interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders.

The charges in an indictment are merely accusations, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.