A federal judge in Manhattan sentenced Venezuelan drug trafficker Carlos Orense Azocar on Tuesday to life in prison plus 30 additional years, capping one of the most sweeping narcotics prosecutions ever brought against a figure tied to Venezuela’s shadowy drug networks and alleged corruption at the highest levels of the Caracas regime and its military.
Orense Azocar, known by the nickname “El Gordo,” was convicted in December 2023 after a two-week trial in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick imposed the sentence, finding Orense guilty of conspiring to import massive quantities of cocaine into the United States and of multiple weapons-related offenses.
Federal prosecutors described Orense as one of the most prolific cocaine traffickers ever prosecuted in the courthouse, responsible for moving hundreds of tons of cocaine through an international pipeline that stretched from Colombia and Venezuela to Central America, the Caribbean and ultimately the United States.
“Carlos Orense Azocar is one of the most prolific cocaine traffickers ever sentenced in this courthouse,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement. “Orense Azocar and his co-conspirators, including high-ranking government and military officials, inflicted incalculable damage on this community.”
Drug Enforcement Administration head Terrance C. Cole called Orense a “criminal kingpin who built an empire on deception, fraud, and bribery,” adding that his case underscored the agency’s determination to pursue powerful international traffickers regardless of their political connections.
U.S. investigations into the growth of drug-trafficking operations in Venezuela have identified Orense as one of the oldest operators linked to the so-called Cartel de los Soles, an organization U.S. authorities allege is run by high-ranking members of the Caracas socialist regime and Venezuela’s armed forces.
According to court documents and trial testimony, Orense’s trafficking operation began on or about 2003 and grew steadily over nearly two decades. Prosecutors said he helped transport, receive and distribute loads of cocaine ranging from hundreds to thousands of kilograms at a time, using a sophisticated network of air and sea routes.
At the heart of the operation were a series of cattle ranches, or fincas, owned and controlled by Orense in Venezuela’s interior. These properties, authorities said, served as secure hubs for the storage and shipment of cocaine. Investigators testified that the ranches were equipped with clandestine landing strips, underground tanks used to conceal drugs, and arsenals containing hundreds of weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition.
From these ranches, cocaine was dispatched aboard small aircraft flying north toward Central America and Mexico, or loaded onto “go-fast” boats that sped from Venezuela’s coastline to intermediate points in the Caribbean, including the Dominican Republic and areas near Puerto Rico. The shipments were then funneled onward into the United States.
Prosecutors estimated that Orense distributed nearly one ton of cocaine per week for much of the year — amounting to as much as 40 tons annually — and that over the life of the conspiracy he was responsible for the movement of hundreds of tons of the drug, generating tens of millions of dollars in illicit proceeds.
To sustain an operation of that scale, the government said, Orense relied heavily on corruption and violence.
According to the evidence presented in court, he paid millions of dollars in bribes to senior officials throughout the Venezuelan state apparatus, including military generals, National Guard officers, police commissioners and senior figures within the country’s intelligence agencies. Those relationships, prosecutors said, allowed Orense to operate with near impunity inside Venezuela.
His government connections allegedly secured access to military-grade weaponry, protection from law enforcement and military raids, safe passage for cocaine convoys through checkpoints, and even fraudulent aircraft transponder codes that allowed cocaine-laden planes to depart Venezuelan airspace without interference.
Orense also partnered with armed guerrilla groups operating in Colombia and Venezuela, including elements of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia ( FARC), to source cocaine and ensure safe transit across border regions. Witnesses testified that members of the FARC were occasionally seen guarding landing strips where drug-laden planes touched down, some wearing Venezuelan army uniforms and carrying AK-47 rifles.
To protect himself and his shipments, Orense maintained heavily armed security teams. Prosecutors said he traveled in armored vehicles, guarded by gunmen, and used a mix of private security, corrupt police and even military forces to protect convoys. Among the weapons linked to his organization were automatic rifles, submachine guns, handguns modified to function as machine guns, and a mounted .50-caliber machine gun.
One of the government’s key witnesses, a co-conpirator identified in court papers only as “CC-5,” served as a senior member of Orense’s security detail and later cooperated with U.S. authorities. CC-5 told prosecutors he was present for dozens or even hundreds of conversations in which Orense discussed large-scale cocaine trafficking with associates, including Venezuelan officials and other traffickers.
Court filings describe detailed episodes illustrating the depth of corruption surrounding the operation. In one instance around 2008 or 2009, Orense and members of his security team met a National Guard general, identified as “CC-3,” at a restaurant in Valencia, Venezuela. After a tense discussion about money, Orense ordered CC-5 to deliver two duffle bags filled with U.S. $20 bills — estimated to contain several million dollars — to the general. The money was later handed off to men traveling in an official National Guard vehicle.
Shortly afterward, when a truck carrying 1,000 kilograms of cocaine was stopped at a highway checkpoint, CC-3 intervened directly. After a brief phone call with the officer on duty, the truck was allowed to proceed without inspection.
Prosecutors also said that Orense worked closely with senior figures in Venezuela’s intelligence services. In one court document they identified a high-ranking official of the now-defunct Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services (DISIP) as “CC-1,” and the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate (DIM) as “CC-2.”
The filings further alleged that drug proceeds were laundered through a U.S.-based company tied to a Venezuelan state-owned enterprise, identified in the documents only as “Company-2.”
Orense himself did not testify at trial. His defense challenged the credibility of cooperating witnesses and argued that the government exaggerated his role, but the jury rejected those arguments.
Orense was arrested in Italy in May 2021 and extradited to the United States in June 2022 after Italian authorities approved his transfer. U.S. officials credited close cooperation with the Italian government, the DEA’s Special Operations Division and its Bilateral Investigations Unit, as well as prosecutors and digital forensics specialists in New York, for securing his arrest and extradition.
“This sentence sends a clear message,” DEA Administrator Cole said. “DEA will relentlessly pursue and hold international drug traffickers accountable, no matter how far they run or how powerful they believe themselves to be.”
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