A Colombian entrepreneur, Neder Valencia Julio, has been convicted by a federal jury in the Southern District of Florida for his involvement in a conspiracy to distribute large quantities of cocaine destined for illegal importation into the United States. The verdict follows evidence presented at trial that detailed Valencia’s operations along Colombia’s coastal gulf near the Caribbean Sea.
Valencia owned several businesses in territory controlled by the Clan del Golfo (CDG), a notorious Colombian paramilitary and drug trafficking organization. These businesses included a resort-style hotel, an apartment complex, and a boat transport company with speedboats. The CDG cartel trafficked cocaine to partners in Central America who then sold it to Mexican cartels for eventual U.S. entry.
In May 2018, Colombian military surveillance tracked one of Valencia’s speedboats carrying cocaine northward through a known drug route. Pursued by Panama’s Servicio Nacional Aeronaval de Panamá (SENAN), the crew discarded its cargo before fleeing back to Colombia. SENAN recovered 626 kilograms of cocaine from the water.
Valencia was responsible for organizing and overseeing numerous shipments dating back to 2011, including significant loads sent to Honduras between 2012 and 2018. Arrested in Colombia in 2021, he was extradited to the United States where his trial took place under U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal.
U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida announced Valencia’s guilty verdict alongside DEA Special Agent Deanne Reuter from Miami Field Division. The DEA led the investigation with help from Colombian and Panamanian authorities as well as various U.S. agencies.
Valencia faces up to life imprisonment with sentencing scheduled for September 23, 2025.
