Two St. John the Baptist Parish men will spend years in federal prison following their roles in a massive maritime cocaine smuggling operation based out of Laplace, Louisiana.
United States District Judge Darrel James Papillion handed down the sentences after Ricardo Jimenez Ramos, 58, and Dariel Hernandez Garcia, 33, pleaded guilty to federal drug charges. Both men were convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, as well as possession with intent to distribute, five kilograms or more of cocaine.
Judge Papillion sentenced Jimenez Ramos to 36 months in prison, while Hernandez Garcia received a longer sentence of 72 months. In addition to their prison time, both men face five years of supervised release upon their discharge and were ordered to pay $200 in mandatory special assessment fees.
The convictions stem from a multi-agency investigation that uncovered a massive pipeline for illegal narcotics. According to federal court documents, the conspiracy began unraveling on September 10, 2023, when deputies with the St. John the Baptist Sheriff’s Office raided a co-conspirator’s home in Laplace and seized 69 kilograms of cocaine.
As the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and local deputies dug deeper, they discovered that Jimenez Ramos, Hernandez Garcia, and several associates were using a boat off the Gulf Coast to coordinate large-scale drug deals. The investigation culminated on March 19, 2024, when DEA agents raided a Laplace residence shared by the two men and another co-conspirator. That raid yielded an additional 85 kilograms of cocaine. Authorities determined the drugs had been smuggled into the country through a marina at Grand Isle and were destined for distribution across the United States.
The case was brought to court under the umbrella of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative, a broad, multi-agency partnership established by Executive Order 14159, “Protecting the American People Against Invasion.” The task force combines the resources of the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the DEA, and the ATF to dismantle international cartels and transnational criminal organizations.
U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle praised the joint work of the DEA and the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office for successfully shutting down the operation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Sarver, who is now with the Western District of Louisiana, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lynn Schiffman of the Eastern District’s Narcotics Unit.
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