[1] The DEA started watching Guillot Lara in 1975, and estimated that by the late 70's he was delivering in excess of 400,000 pounds of marijuana into U.S. markets each year.
He facilitated the purchase of a cargo ship in Germany, and 1,000 FN FAL rifles in Libya, and their transfer to Colombian waters and then across the Panama Canal.
[4] One of his marijuana smuggling vessels, El Monarca, was used to transfer part of the weapons to a clandestine airfield in Colombia's Guajira region.
The indictment accused the Cuban officials of allowing Cuba to be used as a loading station and source of supplies for drug smugglers operating between Colombia and the U.S. between October 1979 and January 1981.
According to the DEA's account, the smuggling operation depended on Guillot Lara's fleet of mother ships, all code-named "Viviana" for recognition by the Cuban navy.