Major Colombian Trafficker Sentenced

Published: 07 August 2013

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Christian "Tony" Fernando Borda, 49, received a 25-year prison sentence for cocaine trafficking, the US Department of Justice announced Monday. Borda, a trafficker with ties to Colombian paramilitary groups, was convicted in 2010 of conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. His sentence comes with an additional 10 years of probation and a USD $6.5 million fine.

Court documents detailed past cocaine deliveries including shipments in 2005 and 2006 of thousands of kilograms. Borda's operations smuggled cocaine using a combination of land routes through Mexico and ships departing Colombia. Evidence also detailed shipments of millions in US currency sent to Borda through Mexico.

Borda, a Colombian national, was tried by a federal jury in Washington DC. He was extradited from Colombia in 2009 following his indictment in 2007 and subsequent arrest in 2008. The US agreed to not seek a life sentence as a part of extradition requests.

The US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) praised cooperation between US and Colombian authorities. Borda was a well-known operative of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), paramilitary and drug trafficking group financed largely by cocaine dealings, officially declared terrorist organization by the US.

Borda was one of seven arrested on the 2007 indictment. His associate and co-defendant Alvaro Alvaran-Velez, who managed drug and money deliveries in Mexico, will be sentenced in September.