Tito Aldemar Ruano Yandun, a Colombian drug lord who goes by many aliases, including “Don T,” was found guilty of operating a global cocaine distribution network and was given a 20-year sentence in a U.S. federal prison. Ruano Yandun, who entered a guilty plea in March 2024, was sentenced by Judge William F. Kuntz, II at the Brooklyn federal courthouse. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, Yandun must also forfeit $1.5 million in drug proceeds.
“Today’s sentence significantly punishes the defendant for leading a prolific drug trafficking organization that exported thousands of kilograms of cocaine destined for our streets,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace, adding that international drug kingpins must be held accountable for their crimes. Ruano Yandun’s organization was a major supplier to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and the U.S. DEA agents and Colombian authorities worked together to seize several thousand kilograms of cocaine connected to this network. The operation was sophisticated, operating out of southwestern Colombia and Ecuador to transport enormous quantities to Central and North America, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The case illustrates the global scope of the drug trade and the extent to which the United States will go to fight it. In November 2017, the Treasury’s OFAC designated Ruano Yandun as a major international narcotics trafficker under the Kingpin Act, marking a cooperative victory for the prosecution, which also expressed gratitude to the Colombian National Police and the Government of Colombia.
The Office and the DEA conducted an ongoing Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation that culminated in Ruano Yandun’s extradition in October 2023, the statement said. The goal of the OCDETF program is to dismantle high-level drug trafficking and money laundering organizations. The Office’s International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section handled this extensive case, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew D. Wang leading the prosecution.
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