Thirteen men, including four from Broward County, were indicted by a federal grand jury on Monday in an alleged conspiracy involving the import of 6.9 tons of cocaine and 6 tons of marijuana to South Florida.
Four were arrested on Monday. Three others, including the owner of a Fort Lauderdale exotic car dealership, were taken into custody on April 14. All were taken to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Dade County, Broward Sheriff’s Office spokesman Al Gordon said.
Tirso Dominguez, owner of Royal Motorcar, 1624 E. Sunrise Blvd., headed the alleged operation, which is accused of smuggling more than $100 million worth of cocaine from Colombia between 1984 and 1986, according to U.S. Customs Service special agent Patrick O’Brien.
Those arrested on Monday were John Phillips of Pembroke Pines, Fred Galiatsatos of Dania, Guillermo Cabrera of Hialeah and John Chaney of Miami.
Arrested on April 14 were Dominguez, of North Miami; Gordon Weigle of Davie; and Francisco Rodriguez-Milanes of Miami.
Six others named in the indictment were at large on Monday: James Dean Birmingham of Fort Lauderdale; Otto Holland-Rangel of Venezuela; Santiago Echeverria of Colombia; and Pedro R. Sarria, Mario Suarez and Manuel Lopez, all of Miami.
According to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Dominguez invested more than $7 million from 1984 to 1986. “Dominguez has at least five domestic corporations that he has invested in with proceeds from smuggling narcotics,” the documents said.
In Florida, Dominguez owns parts of Transworld Communications Inc., Tamido Construction Inc., Atlas Engineering and Construction Inc., Inter-Regional Investment Corporation, Royal American Development Co., Limos by Royal Inc., and Excalibur Leasing Inc., according to the indictment.
O’Brien said investigators seized five aircraft and 29 cars from Royal Motorcar and other firms and individuals named in the indictment.
