Boats’ illicit loads from Caribbean were taken to Wynwood apartment, feds say

Crime admin August 26, 2026 0 Comments

Boats’ illicit loads from Caribbean were taken to Wynwood apartment, feds say

Five men pleaded guilty in federal court this month to smuggling millions of dollars worth of cocaine from the Dominican Republic to South Florida hidden in compartments on sport fishing boats.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents say the group ran at least 7,700 pounds (3,500 kilograms) of cocaine into South Florida from 2023 until the feds began making arrests in March. Prosecutors say the value of the contraband during that time frame was about $31 million.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the pleas Wednesday, but court records show the men took them Aug. 7-10. Each member of the group pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import five or more kilograms of cocaine, a crime that carries a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life.

A judge is scheduled to sentence the men on Oct. 29.

According to court documents, the group was led by 32-year-old Andy Gabriel Mercedes-Hernandez, who owned two of the three boats used to smuggle the loads — the Maple Leaf and the Dabunaki. Court records do not say who owned the third boat, the Mysterry.

Agents say the boats brought the drugs to the Rickenbacker Marina and the Aventura Marina. U-Haul trucks were then used to take the loads to a safehouse apartment in Wynwood, according to court records.

On March 13, agents arrested a member of the group not named in court documents and found four kilos (almost 9 pounds) of cocaine and $30,000 in cash hidden in a “trap” in his car.

Agents then raided the Wynwood apartment and found 540 kilos (almost 1,200 pounds) of cocaine, $3 million in cash, 14 firearms and more than 100 rounds of armor-piercing bullets, prosecutors say.

In August 2025, cops in the Dominican Republic put a tracking device on the Maple Leaf. A member of the group, Keisy Estibet Peguero, 38, found the device, and the boat was empty when agents boarded it when it reached South Florida, prosecutors say.

Agents searched the phones of Peguero and other people on the boat and found photos going back to December 2024 showing bundles of cocaine. The cocaine in the photos was wrapped in distinct markings that matched the cocaine found in Wynwood, prosecutors say.

One of the phones also had a video showing Peguero, who is also known as “El Grande,” holding the tracking device and text messages indicating that the members of the group answered to Mercedes-Hernandez, prosecutors say.

Peguero was involved in the smuggling operation while he was out on bond after a June 2023 arrest in Florence, South Carolina, where he was pulled over and found to be travelling with $1 million worth of cocaine and $191,878 in cash hidden in his car, court records show.

Other members of the group who took pleas this month are Jesus Alberto Salcedo-Perez, 32; Emmanuel Amauris Rivera-Cabrera, 32; and 46-year-old Mario Joel Rijo-Jimenez.

The Miami Herald has reached out to all the defendants’ attorneys.

Mercedes-Hernandez’s attorney, Jason W. Kreiss, said in an email that his client “has accepted responsibility for his actions and looks forward to putting this case behind him.”