After years of transporting cocaine to the United States from his homeland, a Puerto Rican man admitted his role in the cocaine conspiracy, which led to the shipment of more than 550 pounds (250 kilograms) of cocaine using private planes, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced.

Suspect Pleads Guilty in Puerto Rico-U.S. Cocaine Conspiracy

The U.S. Department of Justice identified the Puerto Rican man as 29-year-old Mariano Enrique Arroyo Perez, aka "Humilde." Arroyo Perez admitted conspiring to distribute cocaine and pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Esther Salas to a superseding indictment charging him with conspiracy to distribute over five kilograms of cocaine.

Based on the court documents filed in the case and statements made in court, from 2017 through July 2019, Arroyo Perez and his conspirators distributed approximately 550 pounds (250 kilograms) of cocaine.

Officers of law enforcement agencies intercepted the illegal drugs that the group conspired to transport on private planes, including approximately 330 pounds (150 kilograms) of cocaine from Puerto Rico to New Jersey on a private plane on November 18, 2018.

Pilots of the private flight became suspicious of the activities of the passengers after noticing that several men who were not declared in the flight's manifest boarded the plane in Puerto Rico. The private plane was bound for Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.

In addition, there were also inconsistencies in their documents that the pilots noticed alongside their unusually heavy luggage.

After the arrest of the four passengers, their luggage was confiscated and found to contain cocaine.

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After the seizure of the cocaine, law enforcement learned that Arroyo Perez had coordinated the intercepted shipment. Law enforcement also reviewed judicially authorized wire intercepts that revealed that Arroyo Perez and a conspirator discussed and coordinated the November 18, 2018 events and shared the names of the four individuals who boarded the private plane.

The Puerto Rican national is scheduled to be sentenced on April 21. Conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine carries a statutory count of 10 years minimum prison sentence up to life imprisonment. Those convicted can also be fined up to $10 million.

Meanwhile, the case was part of an operation of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces known as OCDETF. The agency is assigned to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the U.S. using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.

Moreover, acting U.S. Attorney Honig also recognized the efforts of special agents of the DEA in New Jersey under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Susan A. Gibson in Newark. He also thanked DEA agents from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Colombia for cooperating with the operation.

Honig also thanked the U.S. Marshal Service and the Office of International Affairs for their assistance with the case.

READ MORE: Florida Cocaine Pipeline Mastermind Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Jess Smith

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