Colombian paramilitary member gets over a decade in prison for cocaine trafficking

A high-level member of a Colombian paramilitary organization was sentenced to 150 months in prison for his role in a cocaine trafficking conspiracy, federal prosecutors announced.

Aimer Alberto Alvaran Posada, 52, of Colombia, received the sentence for conspiring to traffic cocaine as a high-level member of the Western Bloc of Clan del Golfo (CDG), according to court documents. Prosecutors describe CDG as a Colombian paramilitary and multibillion-dollar transnational criminal organization that the State Department designated on Dec. 16, 2025, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. According to court documents, the organization relies on cocaine trafficking to fund its paramilitary activities.

Court documents state that in 2018, Alvaran Posada conspired with other CDG members to produce 500 kilograms of cocaine for sale to Mexican buyers, knowing, intending and having reasonable cause to believe the drugs were destined for the United States. He obtained approval from the commander of CDG’s Northern Bloc, where the transaction was to take place, and presided over multiple meetings to coordinate the deal, court documents say. Approximately 363 kilograms of cocaine were seized as part of the operation that led to his conviction.

While the conspiracy was underway, Alvaran Posada was told by Dairo Antonio Úsuga David, CDG’s former leader, that he was being considered for command of the organization’s Western Bloc — a promotion that would have put him in charge of a large network of subordinates and given him authority to set cocaine prices and decide who could produce and transport cocaine in his territory, according to court documents. Instead, he was arrested in 2021 pursuant to U.S. charges and subsequently extradited to the United States. He pleaded guilty to cocaine trafficking conspiracy on Aug. 27, 2025.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI’s Miami Field Office announced the sentencing. The FBI’s Miami Field Office investigated the case, with support from the Colombian National Police, the FBI’s Office of the Legal Attaché in Bogotá, and the Justice Department’s Office of the Judicial Attaché in Bogotá and Office of International Affairs.

Trial Attorney Douglas Meisel of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section prosecuted the case.

The Justice Department said the case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative established under Executive Order 14159, an interagency effort targeting criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad.