A 38-year-old Honduran national has received a 47-month prison term for his involvement in a multiyear operation that illegally transported migrants and cocaine from Honduras to the United States.
Josue Alexander Flores Villeda conspired with at least six others to move Honduran nationals and narcotics northward. The group conducted multiple voyages over about 3 years, carrying at least 15 migrants on each.
In February 2022, Villeda and accomplices tried to deliver more than 20 Hondurans and roughly 24 kilograms of cocaine from Utila, Honduras, to Cocodrie, Louisiana, using the sportfishing boat M/V Pop, co-owned by co-conspirator Carl Allison. Some migrants paid as much as $20,000 for the passage.
The vessel encountered mechanical issues en route, leading Villeda and others to arrange fuel delivery via a chartered boat. Before aid arrived, the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted the craft off Louisiana’s coast and brought it ashore.
Villeda entered a guilty plea to charges of conspiracy to unlawfully bring aliens to the United States for financial gain and conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine hydrochloride.
Among his co-defendants, three others pleaded guilty and have been sentenced: Pittsburgh resident Carl Allison and Honduran Darrel Martinez, on identical charges to Villeda; and Honduran Lenord Cooper, for conspiracy to aid and assist aliens in unlawful entry and for attempting to bring aliens for commercial advantage and private financial gain.
Two more Hondurans, Hennessy Devon Cooper Zelaya and Rudy Jackson Hernandez, were found guilty at trial of conspiracy to unlawfully bring aliens for commercial advantage and private financial gain, as well as attempting to bring aliens for such purposes.
A sixth participant, Honduran Olvin Javier Velasquez Maldonado, was extradited from Honduras in April 2025 and faces one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. His trial is set for February 2026.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle for the Eastern District of Louisiana, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Matthew Wright of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations New Orleans Field Office announced the sentencing.
The prosecution falls under Joint Task Force Alpha, a Justice Department-led initiative with the Department of Homeland Security targeting high-level human smuggling and trafficking by cartels and transnational criminal organizations. Focused on organizers in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Canada, the Caribbean, and maritime areas, it has yielded over 435 arrests domestically and internationally, more than 385 U.S. convictions, over 330 substantial prison terms, and significant asset seizures.
The case also aligns with Operation Take Back America, a department-wide effort to counter illegal immigration, dismantle cartels and transnational groups, and safeguard communities from violent offenders through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhoods.
HSI’s Houma office led the probe, supported by HSI units in Pittsburgh and Atlanta, the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation, HSI’s Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s National Targeting Center International Interdiction Task Force, the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, CBP Air and Marine Operations, Louisiana State Police, Pennsylvania State Police, North Huntington Township Police and the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and Criminal Division’s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training in Honduras contributed as well.
Deputy Chief Rami Badawy of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Carter Guice for the Eastern District of Louisiana are handling the prosecution.
