Large-Scale, Politically-Connected Venezuelan Cocaine Trafficker Sentenced To Life Plus 30 Years in Prison
NEW YORK — Carlos Orense Azocar was sentenced to life plus 30 years in prison for conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and related weapons charges. Orense Azocar was convicted after a two-week trial in December 2023 before U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), who imposed today’s sentence. “Carlos Orense Azocar is one of the most prolific cocaine traffickers ever sentenced in this courthouse, responsible for the distribution of hundreds of tons of cocaine to the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York. “Orense Azocar and his co-conspirators, including high-ranking government and military officials, inflicted incalculable damage on this community. Alongside our partners at the Bilateral Investigations Unit of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)’s Special Operations Division, we are committed to ending the exploitation of the American people by drug cartels and the...