An investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) – Memphis led to a guilty plea by a Guatemalan national who admitted to conspiring to smuggle 450 kilograms of cocaine, or about 992 pounds, the DEA and Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Tuesday.
According to court documents cited by the DOJ, Donelfert Monterroso Vasquez coordinated “multi-hundred-kilogram” shipments of cocaine through Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico, in order to “generate the highest profit” by selling the illicit substance in the United States.
Communicating over an encrypted platform, the DOJ said that Monterroso Vasquez managed a “network of associates,” and at some point even “sent an image of a brick of a cocaine with ‘USA’ stamped on it, indicating it was destined for the United States.”
The DOJ said Monterroso Vasquez was arrested after landing at an American airport in June, and has remained in custody. He will be sentenced in January 2027, where he faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in a United States prison, the DOJ noted.
Both the DOJ and DEA confirmed the DEA-Memphis office led the investigation, and the DEA added that the agency’s Special Operations Division, its offices in Guatemala and Colombia, and the Guatemalan National Police also provided assistance.
Prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia obtained the guilty plea. They noted the sentence will ultimately be decided by a U.S. District Court judge.
While the federal agencies did not explain how Monterroso Vasquez conspired to transport tons of drugs into the United States, in 2024 Insight Crime reported that traffickers were increasingly shifting toward maritime routes to transport cocaine from Colombia to the United States in 2024.
After the Trump administration launched a bombing campaign against alleged narcotics-carrying vessels in international waters, Insight Crime found the total cocaine seized in Guatemala dropped from 18.2 tons in 2024 to 9.9 tons in 2025.
A state report released in January found more than 11,000 illegal aliens were charged or convicted of crimes in Tennessee last year, including 2,325 whose nation of origin was reported to be Guatemala.
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Tom Pappert is a 2025 recipient of the Dao Prize and the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star. He also reports for the Star News Network. Follow Tom on X. Email tips to [email protected].
