Individual charged with importation of cocaine extradited from Colombia as part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF)

Date: April 17, 2026

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

San Juan, PR – Colombian authorities extradited Nixon Manuel Marino-Carreño from La Picota in Bogota, Colombia, to the United States to face drug trafficking charges filed in the District of Puerto Rico.

Nixon Manuel Marino-Carreño was arrested in Colombia on March 10, 2025, at the request of the United States, and extradited to Puerto Rico on April 17, 2026. According to court documents, beginning no later than May 2024, defendant Marino-Carreño, along with other coconspirators, imported and attempted to import cocaine from Venezuela and Colombia, into the United States. The defendant is also facing two counts of conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute cocaine aboard a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

If convicted, the defendant faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years and up to life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The Justice Department’s Office of the Judicial Attaché in Bogotá and Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance in securing the arrest and extradition to the United States of Marino-Carreño.

The FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are in charge of the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille García of the Asset Recovery, Money Laundering and Transnational Organized Crime Division is in charge of the prosecution of the case.

The announcement was made by United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow, FBI Special Agent in Charge Carlos R. Goris, and DEA Acting Special Agent in Charge Evan Martínez.

This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.

HSTF San Juan comprises agents and officers from the following federal partners: FBI, ICE-HSI, CBP (OFO, AMO and Border Patrol), the U.S. Marshals Service for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, DEA, ATF, IRS, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Department of State, and the U.S. Secret Service, the Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands HIDTA, TSA, FAA, and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Districts of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The HSTF also has the following state and local law enforcement partners as participating agencies: the Puerto Rico Police Department; the San Juan, Carolina, Guaynabo, Barceloneta, and Ponce Municipal Police Departments, the Puerto Rico National Guard – Counter Drug Program; the Puerto Rico Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; the Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Service (Hacienda); the Puerto Rico Port Authority; and the Virgin Islands Police Department.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 18 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.