Gilberto Javier Apraez-Munoz, a 55-year-old from Puerto Milan Caquetá, Colombia, has been sentenced to 70 months in prison by the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. for his involvement in cocaine trafficking. His network included drug facilities located in the Colombian jungle, which were used to prepare and distribute large quantities of cocaine into the United States, particularly targeting Washington, D.C.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves of the District of Columbia and FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division.
Apraez-Munoz, also known as "Veneno," was extradited from Colombia on March 15, 2024. He pleaded guilty on September 17, 2024, to unlawful distribution of over 500 grams of cocaine intended for importation into the United States. Alongside his prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered him to serve an additional 60 months under supervised release. Following his prison term, he will face deportation proceedings.
Court documents reveal that the FBI initiated a long-term investigation with Colombian law enforcement into narcotics trafficking aimed at distribution within the United States back in 2019. In August that year, a confidential source and an undercover officer met Apraez-Munoz at a café in Palmira, Colombia to discuss a potential cocaine deal.
During this meeting, Apraez-Munoz disclosed that he had been selling cocaine since 1996 primarily destined for Europe but also sent shipments to the United States. He shared insights about drug routes and pricing while emphasizing quality control due to his experience operating a production facility.
He proposed selling cocaine at $4,800,000 Colombian Pesos (approximately $1,300) per kilogram and received an initial downpayment from an undercover officer for ten kilograms of cocaine. Before finalizing the transaction ten days later at a hotel room in Colombia where he delivered ten bricks of high-quality cocaine intended for Washington D.C., Apraez-Munoz showcased his manufacturing facility deep within the Colombian jungle.
Subsequent testing confirmed that approximately ten kilograms transported back were indeed cocaine after analysis conducted by DEA laboratories stateside.
The case was investigated by FBI's Washington Field Office while prosecution efforts were led by Special Assistant U.S Attorney Ernesto J Alvarado along with Assistant US Attorney Nihar Mohanty under Violence Reduction & Trafficking Offenses section within US Attorneys’ Office based out from DC district court jurisdictional area handling matter code reference number:21cr471