Miami drug pilot sentenced in Connecticut

HARTFORD, Conn. — A Miami pilot who participated in two separate cocaine trafficking conspiracies was sentenced Wednesday in Hartford to just over seven years in prison, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

Prosecutors said Rupert De Las Casas, 64, worked with others to transport about 1,700 kilograms of cocaine from South America to the United States. They added that on August 6, 2016, De Las Casas and Ronier Alonso Sanchez flew a private jet registered in the United States. from the Dominican Republic to Venezuela, where the cocaine was loaded onto the jet.

De Las Casas was the pilot and Sanchez the co-pilot, according to prosecutors.

From Venezuela, the plane was scheduled to fly to Honduras, where the cocaine would be loaded onto trucks for transport through Mexico and to the United States, prosecutors said. They noted that a false flight plan filed with Dominican authorities indicated the plane was heading to Brazil.

Prosecutors said the plane crashed just short of an airstrip in Venezuela and that De Las Casas, Sanchez and another co-conspirator escaped capture by Venezuelan authorities while the cocaine was diverted towards Colombia.

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A Bridgeport grand jury returned an indictment on December 14, 2016, charging De Las Casas, Sanchez and others with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more on board a registered aircraft in the United States, prosecutors said. De Las Casas was arrested on April 15, 2017 and pleaded guilty to the charge on October 23, 2019; he has been detained since his arrest.

After his arrest, De Las Casas was indicted in California for participating in a separate cocaine trafficking conspiracy, and his case was referred to the District of Connecticut, according to prosecutors. On February 27, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine with intent to illegally import it.

Sanchez, a Mexican citizen, was arrested in Asuncion, Paraguay on March 25, 2021, and extradited to the United States, where he pleaded guilty. On Dec. 20, 2023, he was sentenced to four years in prison, prosecutors said.

Another co-conspirator, Arrinson De La Cruz, a citizen of the Dominican Republic who resided in Wolcott, had worked at an airport in the Dominican Republic and helped coordinate the plane's travel through the airport without interruption, prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors, he was charged separately for his role in the scheme and other drug trafficking activities; he pleaded guilty on November 20, 2019 and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

De Las Casas' sentence includes time already served and three years of supervised release following his 85 months in prison, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said the investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration's New Haven task force, which includes members of the DEA, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, the Connecticut State Police and several local police departments.

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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at [email protected].

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